A Planet Divided: The Story of the Kold War
by CalculusWarrior
Summary: A tale of the conflict between two great nations of Kerbin amidst the discovery of space travel. Join the kerbals as they usher in a new era for Kerbin.
1. Introduction

Kerbin has a long (and quite frankly, mostly rather dull) history. For centuries, its lands were split up into many small city-states, where people lived a simple, if poor life. However, as technology progressed and kerbal leaders began noticing the vast tracts of land owned by their neighbours, more and more cities began carving out empires for themselves. Eventually, the entire planet was dominated by empires.

This imperialistic worldview eventually led to a massive, planet-wide war. Tiny border skirmishes snowballed into horrendous conflicts which left vast swaths of land uninhabited. The global war culminated in a nuclear strike terrible enough to collectively awaken all to the futility of continuing the fighting.

However, for many, it was too late. Like shattered glass, the world's great empires crumbled. The only governments strong enough to pull together these broken realms were the United South Kolus Kerbals (USKK) and the Confederacy of Kolus and Firesvar Nations (CFKN). The rest of the planet is made up of tiny, independent, poor city-states. These want nothing to do with either of the big nations, as they are inherently distrustful of any large nations since the war.

Each nation does not trust the other to keep Kerbin peaceful and free, so they have each built up arsenals of weapons to dissuade one another from trying anything. However, this buildup of military forces has led to a 'cold war' of sorts (or as the students of Kerbin like to spell it, 'Kold War', much to the annoyance of teachers).

Since neither side wishes to enter full-scale open warfare against the other, each side instead relies on propaganda to ensure that the people remain faithful to their home country. Misinformation is the name of the game, with each side believing that the other is an evil dictatorship, bent on world conquest. Neither country allows their citizens to communicate with the other nation, perpetrating this belief. However,

Immediately after the war, millions of kerbals were left without homes or places to go, particularly some very prominent scientists. Recognizing an opportunity, the USKK put into motion Operation Stapler, a plan to put those scientists to work for the government.

And it is now, some years after the end of the war, that this plan bears fruit. The venerable Werhner von Kerman, a master of theoretical physics and rocket design, has discovered a new dimension. He realizes it could change the entire course of history, and rushes to share it with the world…


	2. A Fourth Dimension?

_Welcome back to the United News Network! Tonight's top story: Wehrner Von Kerman, genius scientist, has just discovered conclusive proof of a fourth dimension! This is only another example of our great nation's scientific advancements over the CKFN!_

 _Join us tonight, as we interview this genius for more details on his incredible discovery!_

* * *

 _"And we're back, I'm Erdan Kerman, interviewing the scientist Werhner Von Kerman. So Werhner, can you give us an overview of your discovery? Personally, I don't understand much of this trans-dimensional travel and technologies mumbo-jumbo."_

 _"It is actually simpler zen you tink. Ve haf seen evidence of zis new dimension for quite some time, but eet is only now zat ve have developed ze level of technology required to fully comprehend eets existence."_

 _"And what do you mean by that?"_

 _"Vell, ve've learned zat passing an object into zis dimension results in ze object returning to its starting position immediately aftervards. A curious example, which has been noticed, but not fully understood, throughout history. My discovery explains zis effect very vell."_

 _"I see. And you think that this new dimension could allow faster modes of communication and travel?"_

 _"Yes. Travelling in zis fourth dimension will achieve velocities unimaginable to standard vehicles. Ve have even begun researching ship designs vhich can explore it. Vhile much of ze research is of course, classified, I can say zat the results have been very promising so far."_

 _"Remarkable! So how will this new dimension fit into our current three?"_

 _"As you know, ve have had two space dimensions and one time dimension before zis. Ze dimension I discovered is another space dimension, and will join zhose two. I have consulted with my colleagues and come up with suitable directional names. Ze direction pointing towards Kerbin's core will be named 'down', and ze direction pointing away from Kerbin will be named 'up'."_

 _"Up… It has a nice ring to it."_

 _"Zank you, ve're very proud of it. It is zis direction which is the focus of much of our research currently, and shows great promise!"_

 _"And what say you to the rumours that the Mun exists in this new dimension, and that this discovery will allow kerbals to reach it one day?"_

 _*Werhner leans closer*_

 _"Vell, I don't want to raise any false hopes in your audience, but I personally believe zat ze chances are very good."_

 _"Incredible! Well, that's all of our time we have left folks. Thanks for joining us on the United News Network, I've been your host, Erdan Kerman, and this has been Werhner Von Kerman, scientist extraordinaire!"_

* * *

A remote clicked, and the television set turned off. General Geoffnard Kerman, the Supreme Commander of the CKFN military, spoke angrily.

"This is what our spies intercepted from the USKK capital. A new dimension? Are these more lies, boasting of their 'superior technological achievements'? Our electronic systems are ten times-"

"Excuse me sir, but while they may not have our level of electronic technology, their knowledge in terms of nuclear power is unsurpassed," a small, bespectacled kerbal interjected.

"Bilfrod. You're the official Scientific Advisor. Care to explain why your team hasn't come up with a new dimension yet?"

"Well, before today, the Werhner Hypothesis was dismissed as ludicrous, but experimental evidence does show that surprisingly, he was completely correct. My team is investigating further."

Bilcas Kerman, the Communications and Economics Advisor (known as the Propaganda Officer behind his back) spoke up. "I have to ask, why was Werhner not recruited into your team, Bilfrod? He hails from one of the districts inside the Confederacy."

Rather than the kerbal who the question was directed at, it was the General who answered.

"Because the blasted USKK stole him, and every other notable scientist in the years following the War with their 'Operation Stapler'. I can't believe the Special Forces division at the time allowed such an act. If I was in charge back then-"

"That's enough, Geoffnard," the tall kerbal at the head of the table finally spoke up.

The General started. "Yes sir, Mr. President!"

The President of the CKFN continued. "What happened twenty years ago is no concern of ours. What does matter is the events occurring now. Without action on our part, the USKK could develop fourth-dimensional technology sufficient to break the uneasy truce we've established over the past years. This could pose a serious threat to our nation. Therefore, we need to build technology of our own, and surpass whatever efforts the USKK may attempt. Besides, the people need a new cause to rally behind, or so Bilcas tells me."

The Propaganda Officer began nodding furiously. Pretending not to notice, the President continued.

"Bilfrod, has your team come up with anything?"

"Well sir, as General Geoffnard continuously points out, the best scientists were all snapped up by the USKK at the end of the War. While we have produced a few prodigies, like myself (at this, there were several coughs from around the table) in the intervening years, the fact remains that the cream of the crop remains in the USKK. Fortunately, even back then, it was recognized that we should gather a team of our own. So instead of going after the scientists, we focused on gathering the best engineers and technical workers available at the time, and we've continued recruiting from the city-states around us ever since. As such, we have available to us an unrivalled manufacturing and design capacity, which will enable us to build the best hardware possible to explore this new dimension."

"Excellent. I want you to begin research on vehicles which can travel into this fourth dimension immediately. Anyone else have any comments? No? Very well. I believe that brings today's meeting to a close. See you gentlemen next week."


	3. Hearts and Minds

**USKK** : UNN Broadcasting Studio

 _Six Months Later_

* * *

 _Welcome back to the United News Network! Merely half a year after the discovery of the direction known as 'up', we have come to understand our place in the universe. Now it is our turn to explore what lies above. Kerbals from around our great nation have gathered together to begin launching rockets up to learn what it is that comprises this 'outer space'. To learn more about the USKK's space program, we interview its founder, Jebediah Kerman._

* * *

Jebediah followed Erdan Kerman onto the set. He had never really liked the media's aggressive nationalism, but felt it was a necessary evil one had to put up in order to inform the public. The only reason he was even here was because of Bob. While normally the timid kerbal never spoke up or forced his opinion on anyone without prompting, he was quite vocal on matters of national security and passing knowledge onto the people. It was Bob's idea to schedule this interview, and explain the goals and intent of the USKK's space program, to raise awareness of the imminent launch. _It's not as if it needs much explaining_ , Jeb thought to himself, _the population is ecstatic about the program. Ah well, it should make this interview easier then._

"All right, we're on in twenty seconds. Are you ready, Jeb (may I call you Jeb)?" Erdan asked, settling into his seat.

"Absolutely, and I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Jebediah responded, taking a deep breath and attempting to project an air of excitement and good cheer. While it had only been six months since he'd begun this crazy venture, it felt more like six years.

"We're live in five! Four! Three! Two! One!" The cameraman's countdown reminded Jeb of the ground-breaking launch tomorrow, and this served to cheer him up more than any number of breathing exercises.

"Good evening, and welcome to the United News Network! My name is Erdan Kerman, and today I have a very special guest on the show, Jebediah Kerman, founder and director of the USKK's space program!"

Jeb looked towards the camera, and gave a little wave, only to stop when he saw the cameraman shaking his head at him. It appeared that there was a specific etiquette to follow when appearing on camera. _Another reason to dislike this interview_ , he thought, making a mental note to get Bob back for this somehow.

"So Jeb, what prompted you to found the space program? Why divert our resources into space travel, when so much more economic opportunities exist in conventional air traffic?"

Jeb had prepared for this question, but he didn't expect it to be the first off the bat. This was going to be a long interview.

"Well Erdan, it's not that the economic opportunities don't exist, but we simply haven't discovered them yet. No machine nor kerbal has ever even _been_ to outer space, let alone explored it for any meaningful amount of time. We've looked outwards with telescopes, sure, but we still know very little about what lies beyond our atmosphere."

"Very well-reasoned, I for one am sure that there are plentiful ways we can learn new things from the great beyond. Now, can you give us any more details on how you founded the space program? Where is the launch site located?"

"There's an interesting story. You see, originally the space program was going to be a military project. You know what that means, everything classified, nobody would be allowed to see the launches, that sort of thing. However, a very generous grant from the private sector allowed us to buy an old research and development base off the government and set up shop there. We've built rocket construction facilities, crew training grounds, and even an aircraft hangar on the premises! I've some pictures here, actually!"

"Here I am, this was taken by Bob when we first drove out to the space centre"

"Bob took this as I walked towards the main building. We were both so excited to be touring the premises, I swear he went through at least three rolls of film!"

Ah, and here's an image of one of the Tracking Station dishes. I believe I was getting acquainted with the facilities and crew around this time, leaving Bob free to wander around and take pictures."

"Here's a shot from the Launchpad. At the moment, it's swarming with technicians and ground crews, all getting it set up for the launch tomorrow."

"Ah, Bob was really proud of this one; he managed to get a shot of the Mun next to the USKK flag flying at the space centre."

Erdan sat back, clearly impressed by the scale of the facilities. "My my, you have quite the nice place there! And an ocean view too! This sure beats my apartment, ha ha!"

Knowing full well that the newscaster possessed a seaside mansion a couple of kilometres from the studio, Jeb neglected to comment. Seemingly a little put off by Jeb's lack of comment on his joke, Erdan continued asking questions.

"So Jeb, you had mentioned that the launches will be public, and I hear that the launch site already has plenty of kerbals camping out, ready for tomorrow's launch! What _has_ got the public so interested in your vision?"

"It's really not easy to pin down exactly what's got the nation so excited, Erdan. Well, I have learned that if you mention going to the Mun, suddenly you've got half the nation wanting to tag along!"

"Speaking of 'tagging along'. Which kerbals has the space program selected? I certainly hope you aren't just going to grab any old kerbal off the street!"

"Definitely not. Since we still know so little about the effects of the zone beyond our atmosphere, we have elected to send unmanned probes before kerbals. They will allow us to gather valuable data about the effects of outer space so that we can plan subsequent missions accordingly."

"So you aren't going to be launching a kerbal tomorrow?" Erdan seemed disappointed, and Jeb suspected that many of the kerbals watching would be as well. He decided to divert their attention, quickly.

"Unfortunately, no. But kerbals are being trained as we speak for the eventual manned mission. It shouldn't take long before we are ready to launch kerballed craft, we just need to analyse the probe data first."

"As for these kerbals in training, are you one of them? Actually, are you even allowed to share that information with our audience?"

At this, Jebediah chuckled. Erdan had evidently covered highly-classified stories in the past. "Yes, I am allowed to share who these kerbals will be. In fact, I even have pictures of them here! Now first of all, as the director of the program, there's no chance I'll ever get to fly a mission; I simply have too much to do! Fortunately, the kerbals we've chosen are excellent candidates. Here we have Rondred, Erdrin, Jorfred, and Donnand Kerman," Jeb said, revealing his photos to the camera.

"My, my, Jeb, these look like excellent candidates to go to space! I was told that you also brought along two colleagues to help run the program. Are they not training to become astronauts too?"

"Oh, Bill and Bob? Are you kidding? Bill's pushing about 60 now, and Bob is too much of a scaredy-cat to even approach a rocket, let alone fly one into orbit! As you see in this picture, while they're wearing USKK-certified flight suits, it's simply for safety, as they're inspecting a fuel storage tank out on the grounds."

"So to answer your question, Erdan, no, they're simply good friends of mine who share my passion for space, and want to see the USKK become a great, space-faring nation."

"Speaking of our great country, what are your thoughts on the rumours that the CFKN has stolen our technology and begun a space program of their very own?"

 _Damn._ Jeb had hoped to avoid the topic of nation vs. nation entirely, but it appeared that Erdan was a persistent kerbal. Jeb had managed to sidestep the topic when he answered the first question, but it seemed Erdan really wanted to get an opinion out of him.

"Well, Erdan, I would be cautious when saying that the CFKN 'stole' our technology. Rocket engines and fuel tanks are surprisingly simple in design. In fact, we found our first set of prototypes lying by the side of the road!"

Erdan's eyes widened and he looked like he was going to say something.

"—though of course, we have manufactured _completely_ new parts for the launch tomorrow," Jeb added quickly and not entirely truthfully. "But as I was saying, while the base technology for space exploration is simple, our plans are anything but. I am confident that tomorrow's launch will be completely successful, and not even the sky is the limit after that!"

"Simply fantastic, Jeb! I can tell you that I will definitely tune in for the launch tomorrow! Our glorious USKK is about to enter a glorious new age of exploration and development, all under your capable guidance! I do have one last question before you go, though. Do you ever feel pressured, with this enormous amount of responsibility hanging over your head?"

"I have to say, Erdan, I've dealt with a lot of responsibility over the years, and I feel like this is just another small step for me. Besides, I have the excellent Bill and Bob to help me along; they take over the tasks I can't manage."

"I see. Well, it has been an honour talking to you, Jeb, and I wish you the best of luck for tomorrow's launch! I've been Erdan Kerman interviewing the great Director of our space program, Jebediah Kerman, and this is the United News Network!"

"And we're clear!" shouted the cameraman. A low buzz began to envelop the newsroom as kerbals began to go about their various tasks. Jebediah shook Erdan's and many of the crew's hands, then left the newsroom.

* * *

Bob was waiting for Jeb outside in his car. "How did the interview go? I wasn't able to catch it on the radio. Thanks again for doing this, I know you don't like to associate much with the media."

Jeb sighed. "To tell the truth, it wasn't that bad. I'm just anxious to get back to the Space Center, there are still so many things to be done before the launch."

"Don't you worry, Bill has it all under control. I drove by on my way here, and it looked like they were already erecting _Aether 7_ on the Launchpad."

"Already? Wow, I suppose he really is on top of things! You guys have been great, thanks for agreeing to this."

"You know it's no problem, we would have joined the program regardless of your involvement. Pushing the limits of what's possible, that's the USKK way!"

Jeb chuckled. "Sure it is." and the two drove off towards the Space Centre.


	4. Jenfrey's Garage

**CKFN:** Three months ago

* * *

"Is this it?"

"What do you mean, 'is this it'?"

Matdun and Gusbin Kerman, two newly-selected kerbonauts, were standing on the grounds of the CKFN Facility for Space Research.

"I mean exactly what I said, Matt. Is this the result of all our time and money? Two old buildings and a launch pad?"

"Hey hey hey Gus, watch what you're calling old! While these buildings aren't technically newly-built, they are fully outfitted with rocket construction facilities and tracking hardware. What more can you ask for?"

"I don't know, maybe something like the USKK's entire Space Centre? A research and development building? They've even got a runway, for devs sake!"

"Who needs a runway, anyhow? We're going to space, not fly planes! Besides, this should be all we need."

"You're right. If it lets us get into space, I wouldn't even mind working out of somebody's garage. I guess this will have to do."

"Well, then you'll pleased to hear where our R&D centre is located; Jenfry was kind enough to donate his house for the cause!"

"Oh good grief…" 

* * *

**CKFN:** Present Day

* * *

Danford Kerman, Flight Director for the CKFN's space program walked up to the front door and knocked. Jenfry Kerman was quick to open it.

"Why good morning, Mr. Danford, sir! How's the rocket coming along? Have you picked a name yet?"

"Hi, Jenfry. The rocket is actually mostly complete, we're just lacking a payload for it. That's why I'm here, I need to talk to Bilfrod."

"Ah, he's right this way, down in the garage."

Jenfry's garage had been converted into a small, but surprisingly well-equipped research lab. Harried techs rushed around, analyzing spreadsheets and testing prototypes. In the centre of it all stood Bilfrod Kerman, who as Chief Scientific Advisor of the CKFN had been tasked with overseeing the space program's research.

"Bilfrod, you've got to give me something, the boys at the VAB are getting impatient. Where's our payload?"

"Well, we hammered out a working prototype, but unfortunately we're not going to be able to launch it," responded Bilfrod,

"What? I thought the probe core performed admirably when we tested it on the ground! What's wrong?"

"It's quite frustrating, actually. We launched a sounding rocket the other day with a test platform, just to check that the systems will work when we launch for real. However, we found that when the electronics reach the upper atmosphere, the increased radiation cooks their systems.1 Right now we've been focused on hardening our electronic systems, but it is taking a while."

"Radiation, you say? Can't you just stick a some shielding onto the probe and call it at that?""It's not as simple as that; with all the countermeasures we have to put in, we'll either have to totally redesign all our hardware, or end up with a box that has so much shielding it would be kerbal-rated."

"Huh. …Which of these two approaches would take less time?"

"Normally I would recommend the new tech, but it just so happens that one of my interns built a mock-up of a manned rocket, and with minimal effort we could modify it so that a kerbal could survive the trip. However, it would be far heavier than the probe core we were planning to send up."

"Don't worry about the weight, the boys at the VAB are itching for something to do. Building a rocket which can take this capsule into orbit will be just the project they need. How long will it take to rad-proof this capsule?"

"I'd say maybe a week or two. We still need to vacuum-test it, make sure it can survive long-term exposure to outer space."

"Damn, the USKK is launching tomorrow. And this is compared to how long for the redesigned tech?"

"Oh, that would take months. I'll get one of the drones, err interns on it though, we'll eventually want to send probes up there, won't we?""Definitely. Okay, thanks Bilfrod. I'll get back to you soon."

Danford exited the garage, dodging a kerbal with his hands full of batteries. I guess we're not going to launch before the USKK after all, he thought to himself. The President won't be happy. 

* * *

**CKFN:** Capital City

 _Three hours later_

* * *

"The President is doing WHAT?" Danford couldn't believe his ears.

"As I said, administrative duties of the space program will be taken over his advisors," General Geofnard repeated, somewhat annoyed. "He said your methods just aren't getting results. Managing an entire space program's policy as well as check up on individual teams is far too much for one kerbal to handle."

Danford sighed heavily. "He is right about that; I've been a nervous wreck ever since we started. But let me promote some members of my own staff at the space facility; I know some great people who would be perfect for managing the program."

"I'm sorry, Dan. I can't let you do that," said the General, "The President said you're brilliant at managing the space centre, and commends you for the performance of the teams so far. However, even the best-run program will fall apart without a clear goal in mind. And besides getting a rocket to space, you don't seem to have one."

"Well, uh, I…"

"Precisely. He's not happy that the engineers are scrapping the ship they just built and are constructing another rocket, and says you need someone to keep a watch over your spending. Bilcas Kerman, the Economics Advisor, is just the kerbal for the job. You've already got Bilfrod working on research and development, and I," The General thumped his chest proudly. "I will keep an eye on the USKK and shape our program's goals to match and exceed theirs."

The President had evidently given this plan a lot of thought, and try as he might, Danford couldn't disagree with the General. The last few months had taken their toll on him; having expert kerbals take care of administrative tasks and cut through red tape would simplify his life immensely.

"Fine. I can see the his logic behind this decision, and I can't really think of a better solution,"

"Don't you worry, this is for the best. You'll be able to spend more time doing the things you are good at, and we'll be able to get a leg up on the USKK at last! Speaking of which, their launch is tomorrow. The President wants to know when our rocket can be launched?"

"I'm afraid not for another three weeks, but we will launch a kerbal when we do"

At this, the General gave a double-take. "You're sending someone up there? My people tell me the USKK hasn't even considered a kerballed launch yet! Are you sure it's safe?"

"Absolutely. My engineers have been able to get nearly 100% reliability out of their engines, and their designs keep getting better and better. We might not beat the USKK into space, but the first kerbal up there will be from the CKFN."

"I see... I congratulate you on your ingenuity, but in the future, you should keep the President or myself in the loop when deciding on our payloads. That reminds me. You'll need to attend our next staff meeting, Thursday at noon. Now that the Advisory Committee is part of the Space Program, we need to be brought up to speed, and properly informed about…

Danford tuned the General out as he began listing protocol and meeting times. Having increased government control over the space program wasn't ideal, but it certainly wasn't the end of the world. Maybe now that he had more of the President's ear, he could push for an increased budget, and maybe expand the Space Program's facilities. Who knows, maybe this could be a good thing after all…


	5. Preparing for Launch

**USKK:** One day later

* * *

"Fuel lines, check. Mooring cables, check. Engine ignitors, check."

The sun was just rising at the USKK space centre, but the work of the ground control team had already been going on for hours. Thanks to their extensive efforts, _Aether 7_ was nearly ready for liftoff. Despite the very early hour, the crowd gathered outside the Space Centre was bustling with excitement.

Gene Kerman, Flight Director, stood at the centre of the chaos that was Mission Control, yelling into his radio headset.

"No, tell the ground crew not to load the fuel yet. If the welding team drops a torch again, there'll be a fireball large enough to toast our audience. We load half an hour before the launch, no sooner."

"What do you mean, the payload isn't in the rocket yet? Tell the R&D team to quit poking at it and shove it in there! I don't care if it's only showing an eighty-six percent reliability with receiving signals, it isn't going to have to do anything fancy. The main goal of this operation is to launch something into space and please the crowd out there."

"Speaking of which, how many are there? Three thousand? That's more than the turnout to most kerbowling matches! If we screw this one up…"

"Don't worry, Gene. You're not going to screw up," a calm voice reassured the frantic kerbal.

"Thank the devs you're here, Bill! Things are insane over here. Half the Mission Control techs aren't even here yet, the rocket is still under construction, and this crowd is driving us all crazy! I thought we weren't supposed to launch until Tuesday!"

"That was the plan. Unfortunately, Jeb let slip our most optimistic launch schedule estimate on live television, so we've got an audience earlier than we anticipated. It's not as if we can just tell them to go home, can we?"

"I suppose not…That doesn't mean we can't try, right?" Gene flipped on the exterior PA systems and prepared to speak.

Bill quickly turned it off. "Not so fast. Don't give up before you've even tried! Give the crews some credit. They may not be the best in the world, but they definitely won't screw up anything major, yesterday's incident taught them quite the explosive lesson."

"I guess you're right. Why couldn't you have taken my position? I'm lousy at it; my nerves are shot and we haven't even launched yet!"

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it quickly. I've had enough of management for a lifetime; I'm here just to support Jebediah, and give you a hand. Besides, you're doing better than I did on my first time. At least nothing's on fire!"

"The day's not over yet, Bill. But it looks like you're right, I've got confirmation that the rocket is just about ready for payload installation."

"What did I tell you? How's the payload coming along?"

"One second…" Gene's expression widened into one of amazement as he consulted with the labs via his headset. "I can't believe it. R&D actually managed to get the payload to quit acting funny! It's on its way to _Aether_ now!"

"In that case, restart the countdown, Gene."

"Right-o, Bill!" 

* * *

"You know Donnand, why couldn't this have been a kerballed launch?" Rondred Kerman said to the kerbal sitting next to him. With their daily training suspended due to the impending launch, the two kerbonauts found themselves without much to do. At the moment, they were wandering around the Space Centre, speculating about the future of the space program.

"You know very well why not, the rocket isn't big enough to lift your fat butt into orbit!"

"Hey now," said Rondred, giving the kerbonauts' vending machine several practised knocks, dispensing a free snack. "The flight controller said I was within acceptable weight limits. Besides, couldn't they have just built a bigger rocket than that tiny thing?"

"The construction team had enough difficulties with that one; it's going to take them a while before they feel confident enough to build anything bigger. I say let them practice on small rockets. Besides, the bigwigs who lead this space program are concerned about safety, they say that having a kerbal go up on untested hardware is dangerous."

"Danger? Who cares about danger? We've all risked our lives before, and we can do it again, if it means getting to go into space!"

"Don't you worry, Ron. You'll get to go to space eventually, we just need to find out what's up there first."

"Good, I joined this space program for one reason only: I want to see Kerbin from above! I wonder what it looks like?"

"If the launch goes well, the probe will take pictures of the view. I wonder how we'd get to take a look? Say, the guys down in Mission Control will probably get to see them first, won't they?"

"That's right! Instead of waiting for the pictures to be posted publicly, why don't we just see them ourselves?"

"You mean break into the Mission Control room? Not even our passes will get us in there!"

"Hmm, you're right. Security is pretty tight." At this, Donnand sat back, clearly thinking hard. "I've got it! We just need to get ourselves a pair of blue polo shirts!"

"Polos? How would that-ahh, I see what you're getting at!"

"All we have to do is sneak into the control room with all the other techs, then just stand at the back of the room when the rocket is launched! I heard from one of the techs that there are always extras just standing around; we won't have to do a thing but watch!"

"Don, I don't know why you became a kerbonaut. I think you're smarter than Werhner Von Kerman himself!"

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush! Now let's get moving. The laundry room's over this way…" 

* * *

Thirty minutes later, in the control room

"Countdown restarting at T minus five minutes. Repeat, five minutes until liftoff."

Rondred and Donnand were standing at the back of Mission Control, clad in the characteristic light blue polo shirts that its technicians wore.

"This is seriously the best idea you've ever had, Don. Just look at those giant monitors, I can't believe we're really here!"

"Something's not right though. The room doesn't look like it's as packed as I've heard it normally is."

Suddenly, a very harried Gene Kerman stopped before them. Ron and Don exchanged worried looks.

"Oh, thank the devs you're here! There's been a pileup on the highway, and the last few members of the team aren't going to make it! You're the backup control techs, right?"

Not knowing what the punishment for sneaking into the Mission Control room immediately before launch was, but knowing it was nothing good, the two kerbonauts nodded carefully.

"Yessir, that is definitely us. Uh, where do you want us to go?" asked Donnand.

"Alright, you go here, next to Barfnal. He's the Lead Telemetry Controller. He'll let you know what to do. You, on the other hand, are going to be Range Safety Officer. Activate the sequence if (SQUAD forbid) the command is given."

Donnand shuffled over and queried Barfnal as to what his job would be.

"Great, another newbie. You know, I've got a job to do here, I can't be telling all these guys how to watch their consoles! What you're going to be doing is monitoring the temperature and pressure of the payload. You see gauge X7-42b here? If it goes critical, make sure to notify me, so I can pass the information onto Gene. However, it may be just a fault in the system, so you have to consult the manual here and make sure that the fuses haven't blown. If they have, then you need to…"

Head spinning, Don prayed that the payload would be fine so that he would not have to run through the increasingly-complicated procedure Barfnal was going over.

Rondred, on the other hand, had a very simple control panel in front of him. A single Big Red Button, covered by a plastic safety case, lay in front of him. Now, most other kerbals would be able to handle this position. They would await the launch and enjoy the show, only pressing the button if they were told. Not Rondred. For his entire life, he had been pushing buttons, whether the metaphorical buttons of his parents and teachers, or physical buttons in vehicle pits. He loved pushing buttons. As such, when confronted with such a Big Red Button that was just begging to be pressed, Rondred faced a very difficult decision. Should he press the Button, feel the satisfaction, and deal with whatever consequences resulted? Or should he leave the Button be, and forever wonder what it did? A difficult choice even at the calmest of moments, and this moment was anything but calm. Rondred struggled to recall exactly what the job of the Range Safety Officer was, but was unable to remember specifics. Did it have something to do with large explosions? Then again, given by how many explosions came from the Vehicle Assembly Building these days, it seemed like explosions and rockets went hand-in-hand. Still, the Button awaited, in all its infinitely pressible glory.


	6. The Big Red Button

**USKK:** Mission Control

* * *

"Alright people, this is it!" Gene Kerman's voice rang out throughout the room. "We are ready to launch Kerbin's first satellite! All stations, report in."

"Attitude, go!"

"Power, go"

"Telemetry, go," Barfnal stated. Donnand Kerman, worriedly staring at his massive control board, certainly did not feel like all systems were go, as he peered at gauge X6-48c (or was that X8-49a?).

"Communications, go"

And so the list went on, subsystem after subsystem reporting readiness, when suddenly, a pause came. Gene spoke up.

"Range Safety? Range Safety, are you ready?"

Enamoured by the Button, Rondred Kerman snapped out of his daze when he realized Gene was speaking directly to him.

"Uh, yes! Yes, yes, most certainly, everything's ready here! Um, go?"

"Excellent. Well, gentlemen, all stations are online and we are go for launch. Commencing the final countdown."

* * *

"Ten"

"Nine"

Donnand tried to recall exactly which gauge Barfnal had told him to watch.

"Eight"

"Seven"

The Button remained, stoic as ever. Ron couldn't take his eyes off it.

"Six"

"Five"

Surely it was gauge XF-47b. Or was that X4-F7b?

"Four"

"Three"

The Button suddenly began to blink. Eyes widening, Rondred started to sweat.

"Two"

"One"

"Liftoff, we have liftoff of the _Aether 7_ orbital probe!" 

* * *

Overlooking the launch site.

* * *

"Say Jorfred, why was the ship called _Aether 7_?" Erdrin Kerman said to the final member of the USKK kerbonaut team.

"Well, who knows why they chose the name _Aether_ , but I believe that the '7' moniker came from the fact that this is the seventh rocket we've launched. The first six were just sounding rockets built to test the technology." replied Jorfred.

"Huh, isn't that funny," she mused, watching the rocket streak skywards on a column of flame and smoke.

"Why?"

"In my favourite game, _Human Space Program_ , the United States' story mode's manned rocket launch was called the _Freedom 7_. I forget why it was called that though."

"One of these days, Erdrin, you're going to have to realize that life isn't a video game. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"Yeah, sure,"

 _Aether 7_ did not care as to what it was named after. It merely rose towards the heavens bearing the collection of electronics which would ultimately orbit the planet. The probe was nothing fancy, it would simply receive radio signals transmitted to it and emit a response, but as no other object had ever been to orbit before it, this probe was very special.

Transmissions originating from the Mission Control station, relayed through the three massive dishes of the Tracking Station, found the little rocket and commanded it to pitch itself over forty-five degrees relative to the horizon. A few moments later, the first stage engine used up the last few drops of fuel and promptly flamed out. In response, carefully-placed pyrotechnics (the engineering team found out first-hand what happens if one fails to use caution when placing them the preceding day) detonated and the second stage engine was exposed to the thin air of Kerbin's upper atmosphere. With only a second's delay, it fired up, and _Aether 7_ continued on its journey skyward. 

* * *

Donnand Kerman was not having a good day. Not only had the X8-67 gauge gone red, but the X3-DF8 gauge too, and the X7-56a gauge as well! In fact, his entire control panel was flashing red. Donnand was on the verge of telling Barfnal this, but realized that no one else in the control room seemed to be reacting to alerts on their control panels. In fact, the catastrophic failure seemed to be localized to only his panel. Recalling something Barfnal had said, he ducked underneath the console, where the acrid smell of burnt plastic met him. The main fuse had burnt out, and by the looks (and smell) of it, some of the insulation along the wire had been scarred as it did so. Donnand yanked out the burnt fuse, grabbed a replacement from its box, then shoved it into place. With great relief, he noted that all the gauges had returned to normal. He certainly hoped Rondred was having a less stressful time at his console.

Try as he might, Rondred could not ignore the button. Besides it being his job (or what Gene thought was his job), the Button was the most pressable button he had ever encountered in his life. Big, flashing, and smack-dab in the middle of the console, this Button needed to be pressed. Who would ever find out? he thought to himself. Gene's not looking this way, just go ahead and give it a push! And so push it he did, carefully easing back the cover and depressing the large, round Button. He was not disappointed; the Button emitted a massively satisfying ka-thunk as he pushed it, activating the delicate electronics hidden inside his console.

Radio waves propagate at the speed of light, a speed far greater than any human or kerbal mind can comprehend. As such, the following series of events took place in much less than the blink of an eye. As Rondred pushed the Button, a signal was sent through his console, off to the tracking station, and off in the general direction of the rocket, via one of the radio dishes. Upon arrival, the signal was quickly decoded, the rocket understanding its message: **SELF DESTRUCT**. This information prompted the very rudimentary computer on board to send an electronic pulse through a very specific wire, on its way to another carefully-placed series of explosives. Unlike the decoupler, these would precisely tear the ship apart, leaving nothing but dust in their wake. And as the electrons vibrated their way through the wire towards this deadly payload, let's consider what was happening to this particular portion of the rocket the preceding day:

* * *

17.4 hours ago

* * *

"…so then I said to him: 'How hard can rocket science be, anyway?" said Gregbro Kerman, one of the Vehicle Assembly Building's rocket construction workers, as he was working on the fuselage of Aether 7.

"Ha ha ha, you're hilarious, Greg!" howled his partner, who was holding Gregbro's welding gear. "You ought to quit your day job and become a professional comedian!"

"You know, I considered that for a couple of years. That actually reminds me of a story…" Greg responded, turning away from the rocket to look at the other kerbal, inadvertently letting the welding torch stray towards a sensitive portion of the rocket.

"Good SQUAD, Greg! Look out!" yelled his partner.

Gregbro quickly turned back to the job at hand, and he yanked his torch back from a portion of the hull which was endowed with more warning labels than any other. "Well…that was close," he said, quickly turning off the torch.

"Thank the devs, three centimetres to the right and you might have set off the Range Safety explosives!"

"You don't need to tell me-the explosion would have been huge! Well, it doesn't look like anything was damaged, so let's patch up the hull, and go do something else for a while! Say, wanna see me juggle decouplers?"

"You don't have to ask me twice! Bet you can't get more than five up at once this time!"

"Oh, just watch me…"

Little did Gregbro nor his partner know, as they headed towards an explosive incident which would live on in infamy, but the unsupervised welding torch had done more than give both kerbals a scare and leave a blackened streak across the hull. The insulation of wire upon which the self-destruct signal would travel had been completely melted off, exposing the inner wire. This bare copper now touched the outer hull of the rocket, which had been connected to the negative terminal of the onboard battery. Much like how a lightning strike travels through the charged air to get to ground, so would any current meant to trigger the self-destruct, bypassing its intended destination.

* * *

Present Day

* * *

To Rondred, however, it simply appeared that the Button did nothing. No change that he could see occurred, whether on the monitors or on any surrounding consoles. Slightly annoyed at the Button's lack of function, he pressed it again. And again. And once more, for good measure.

 _Ka-thunk  
Ka-thunk  
Ka-thunk_

Three more times, the signal made its route from the console below Rondred's fingers, to the Tracking Station, and finally to the rocket. And three more times it was redirected from the wire to the hull to the ground terminal of the battery, ending its journey prematurely.

Profoundly disappointed, Rondred quickly replaced the plastic cover as Gene walked by, then for the first time since noticing the button, glanced up at the large monitor at the front of the room. _Wow! The rocket sure got high up quickly!_ he thought.

Time flies when one is preoccupied with a Button.

* * *

Rondred was indeed accurate, the rocket was setting new altitude records, flying farther than any kerbal-made object had before.

The previous sounding rockets had only made it to the outer layers of Kerbin's atmosphere; this ship would be the first kerbal-made object to enter outer space. Before it reached that boundary though, the fuel reserves in the upper stage's fuel tank depleted, causing the engine to flame out. At this point, the rocket had an apoapsis of roughly 200 km, which the flight planners had deemed as an excellent target altitude. As such, fairings were jettisoned, and the satellite was revealed.

This satellite was nothing special, as mentioned before, the probe was simply designed to confirm that it had made orbit and take a few pictures. It didn't even have its own energy generation on board, meaning that once the power ran out of the onboard batteries, the probe would simply be a silent piece of metal travelling around Kerbin.

The probe did possess a sunshield though, as the scientists on the ground were worried of whether the unfiltered light from the Sun would be enough to melt parts of the probe. Fortunately, no temperature alarms blared, but Donnand was more concerned about the acrid smell emanating from his console.

Despite being neither aerodynamic nor possessing wings, the satellite flew silently towards apoapsis. It possessed a tiny orbital operations motor, which would used to circularize when it reached the highest point in its orbit.

Unceremoniously, the rocket's motor activated and circularized its orbit, catapulting the planet Kerbin into a new era: the Space Age. Despite such a monumental achievement, most of the kerbals involved were distracted with other things. Donnand was still trying to get his instrument panel to work; he had inserted the wrong fuse and now thick black smoke was emerging from all the gauges. Rondred had let his attention slip back to the Button; he gave it one last ka-thunk before sadly giving up. Gene was vicously chewing on his nails as he stalked around the room, inspecting everyone's consoles. The kerbals out on the lawn of the Space Centre were packing up their things, the show was over, and most had already left, minds consumed with more mundane things than the flight of Kerbin's first orbital probe.

That probe would function perfectly for the remainder of its life though, regardless of whether the thoughts of its creators were upon it. Its engine restarted smoothly to place the payload in the desired orbit, and all transmissions came through loud and clear, eliciting a loud cheer from the Control Room. Ron and Don took the opportunity to slip away amidst the chaos, forgetting the reason they had snuck in the first place. Upon returning to the other two kerbonauts, they had nothing much to say about the launch except 'it was nice'.

Indeed, while the media switched into overdrive speculating about the next launch, what the CKFN would do in response, and even the question of putting a kerbal up there eventually, no one paid attention to the fact that Kerbin's skies had gained a single new star. It was the evening after the launch, when a little kerbal was walking home with her mother.

"Look, ma! That star's moving!"

This was before the advent of air travel, remember (the kerbals were still figuring out exactly how wings worked, they preferred to stick with rocket-propelled vehicles for now), so the constant movement of lights across the sky modern day humans have come to know did not exist yet. Besides, this star was no plane. Moving across the sky at a rate no aircraft could ever hope to match, it indeed looked like one of the stars above had come loose and was moving in a perfectly straight line, from west to east.

The kerbal's mother, arms full of groceries, didn't even bother to look up.

"Don't be silly, dear. Stars can't move! Now can you give me a hand with this door?"

The little kerbal rushed forward to help her mother, but not before glancing back at the mysterious star, now nearly at the horizon, chasing the recently-set sun. She made a silent promise to herself, to find out what could make a star move like that, and one day chase down the tiny point of light in the sky.


	7. A Tough Decision

**CKFN:** Advisory Council Meeting  
One Day Later

* * *

Danford shifted uneasily in his seat. This meeting had dragged on for hours, yet Bilcas still hadn't reached the topic that was on everyone's minds: yesterday's rocket launch from the USKK.

Looking around the table, he saw that his fellow council members were nowhere near as agitated as he. Bilfrod was idly doodling on a pad of paper, the President was twirling a pen in his fingers, and it even looked like General Geofnard had nodded off.

Danford rubbed his eyes, wishing he'd had more than one cup of coffee this morning, then leaned back in his seat. Bilcas' next words made him sit right back up, however.

"Now that the cabbage legislation is taken care of, it's time to move on. Danford, I believe this will concern you especially: yesterday's USKK rocket launch."

"What about the launch? Do you want details of the launch, specifications of their satellite, rocket designs?"

"I want to know why we were not able to launch before them."

Danford sighed before he began his response. _Anything but this_. "As I have stated before, our unmanned technology is severely underpowered in comparison to the USKK. As such, they were able to test, and launch their space probe on a much shorter timeframe than we were able to."

"I know about the probe issues, but earlier this week you were telling us the advantages of sending a kerbal into space. Why, may I ask, have you not accomplished that yet?"

"You are dramatically underestimating the timeframe in which our work is done in. It's not like simply jumping into a car and going on a road trip. Researching the technology, designing proper stages, fabricating the ship properly, training crew-these take weeks! We only really shifted focus towards a manned mission a few days ago."

Bilcas did not respond, his face unreadable. Danford continued.

"Looking at our most optimistic schedules, I'd say that we'll be ready to go within two weeks at the very most."

Upon hearing this, the President halted his twirling pen. "Two weeks? Is there no way we can launch sooner?"

"Not without cutting corners and putting our kerbal's life at risk. This isn't like a probe, where in a failed launch the only casualty is money. I will not allow a kerbal to be sent into a scenario where he or she may die," Danford responded, a hint of colour rising to his cheeks.

Without opening his eyes, the General spoke: "Well said. For once, I find myself agreeing with Danford. I say we let his team take their time, from what I hear, the USKK hasn't scheduled another launch for the next month."

"Good to have your opinion, Geofnard," the President responded. "What say you, Bilfrod?"

"Hmm? What? Uh…" the bespectacled kerbal said, blinking in confusion as he looked up from his doodling, which was starting to resemble a rocket engine. "The payload is mostly complete, we just need to finalize the lifter and attach the two. We need the time to make sure that all systems are working correctly."

"Good to know, thanks Bilfrod. Well Bilcas, looks like that's everyone. Do you have a rebuttal?"

"You know, it _would_ look bad if we managed to get a kerbal killed on our first flight. Fine. I agree, give Danford his extra time."

Danford rocked back in his seat with surprise. It was truly a rare occasion when Bilcas changed his mind so quickly.

"Good to know everyone is in agreement, then," the President said. "That appears to be everything for today, I'll let you all go. Have a good night."

As the four other kerbals got up from the table, Bilcas moved over to Danford. "Remember that you need to choose a pilot for the rocket very soon."

"Right… And I thought this meeting was tough," Danford muttered.

* * *

 **CKFN:** Facility for Space Research  
Two hours later.

* * *

The four kerbonaut candidates (Matdun, Gusbin, Jenfry, and Bilvin) stood in a line on the grounds in front of Danford.

"Well you guys, I just got back from the capital. It looks like our orbital launch is a go," he said.

This was met with a great deal of cheering from the kerbonauts.

"So who's going to get to go, chief?" asked Jenfry brightly.

 _Here we go_ , thought Danford. Since the capsule only had room for one kerbal, he fully expected those who were not chosen for the assignment to react angrily towards the kerbal who had, as he imagined all wanted to be the first kerbal in space.

"Well, I was reviewing your simulator scores, and it looks like Bilvin scored slightly higher on capsule control, and has logged the most hours out of all of you. As such, I feel like she will be the best-suited to controlling the ship."

To his surprise, the kerbals did not act with anger or jealousy towards their comrade, but rather excitement.

"Wow! Congratulations, Bilvin!"

"This is so exciting! I'm so happy for you!"

"I knew those extra hours in the simulations would pay off!"

Pleasantly surprised, Danford left the kerbals to go celebrate among themselves, he had much to do. With a lot of hard work and a little luck, they could make history.


	8. Kerbals: In Space

**CKFN:** 4 weeks later

* * *

 _"Stand by, we're lowering the capsule into position now,"_ the PA blared.

Danford Kerman was pleased. Almost a month after the USKK's launch, his crew was finally ready for a chance at making orbit themselves. Built from the finest materials across the CKFN, _Latona 1_ was nearly ready for liftoff. However, while Bilvin had agreed to let Danford go ahead with the launch, he had shrank the space program's budget in response, leading to delays in the manufacturing and testing process. To make a long story short, this extended Danford's original estimate of two weeks quite significantly. Still, the rocket was complete, even though it felt like he'd had to negotiate for every last nut and bolt on the thing.

"How are you doing, Bilvin?" he asked over the radio.

 _"About as fine as it can be expected, I've been sitting here in this tiny room for three hours now,"_ she replied grumpily, speaking from her location in the rocket's launch tower.

"The capsule is being secured onto the rocket as we speak, you'll be out of there in no time,"

 _"And there's nothing in here,"_ she continued, seemingly oblivious to his words. _"I mean, you could have put a couple of magazines, or a TV, but it is completely empty. At least I've got a chair."_

"Uh, Bilvin? Do you copy?"

 _"I read you. Just offering you some suggestions so that the next poor sap who has to wait here doesn't die of boredom,"_

"Roger that. I'm getting the 'all clear' now, you're free to board the rocket. I'm sending someone to help you into the capsule; it may be a bit of a tight fit."

 _"I don't mind how cramped it is, if it's getting me to space, you can't keep me away! Besides, I'll take a tight fit over dying of boredom any day."_

"Just remember, the room is necessary, we can't have you wandering around the launch site and encountering falling debris, you're a very important kerbal after all!"

 _"Oh come on, that was once! And it wasn't even my fault!"_

* * *

Twenty Minutes Later

* * *

Danfrod stood inside the small Tracking Station, in front of his mission control team.

"Alright. All systems are go. We are ready to finalize the countdown. Bilvin, what's your status?"

 _"Hatch secure, boss"_

"Control, how are we looking?"

"All systems are nominal, stand by for final countdown sequence," one of the kerbals in front of Dan said, eyes on his console readings.

"Roger. We're live in ten."

"Nine"

"Eight"

"Seven"

Despite his cool exterior, Danford was actually quite nervous. This launch needed to go perfectly, otherwise the CKFN risked looking like idiots who couldn't even get a spacecraft off the ground. Besides, a kerbal's life was in the balance. _No._ He had been preparing for this moment for months, it _would_ go off as planned.

"Six"

"Five"

"Four"

"Three"

Palms sweating, Danford adjusted his radio's microphone and glanced over his clipboard. This was it.

"Two"

"One"

No turning back now.

* * *

"…so I was saying, 'What do you mean, that was 7 g? I didn't even feel half of that!' But before you go thinking I'm some sort of iron kerbal, it turns out the centrifuge was malfunctioning and giving strange readings. Apparently, the next time they tested it, the pod separated from the main body and smashed through the roof! It's a good thing I wasn't in it at the time!"

Jenfry Kerman was telling another of his stories from his experiences in basic training to the other CKFN kerbonauts. Suddenly, a bright glow lit up the window of the viewing room.

"Oh no, did we miss the countdown?" asked Gusbin.

"Looks like it," replied Matdun. "Anyway, we can catch the comm chatter of liftoff" She flicked on the communicator.

 _"And we have liftoff! Liftoff of the_ Latona 1 _rocket, carrying Bilvin Kerman on its flight to orbit!"_ Danford's voice came over the speaker.

"Woohoo! Go Bilvin!" cheered Jenfry.

"You know, I always wondered why our rocket has a '1' at the end of its name, rather than the USKK's '7'," Matdun spoke up.

"I think it's because the USKK included their sounding rocket tests in their name," explained Gusbin. "Since we had so many failures with the probes we tried to send up, it was decided to just start at 1 for our orbital flights."

"Hey, that reminds me of when I nearly got hit by one of those sounding rockets, it's quite the story," began Jenfry.

Matdun cut him off. "Not now! I want to listen to the commentary!"

" _Latona 1_ has now reached seven thousand metres, beginning gravity turn now."

"Gravity turn successful. We have now reached fifteen thousand metres."

"Everything looks good so far, how's Bilvin doing?" Gusbin asked. As if in response, the communicator crackled to life.

 _"Control, this is Bilvin, gravity turn was nominal, the rocket handles very well. Fuel is draining as expected, preparing to drop first stage."_

 _"I read you, Bilvin, we've observed the first stage engine burn out. You may fire the second stage when ready."_  
 _  
"Decoupling now. Control, do you read a clean separation?"_

 _"Affirmative, you are clear to fire your second stage engine."_

 _"Activating engine now, fuel flow nominal."_

 _  
"Stand by to jettison escape tower,_ Latonna 1 _."_

 _"Roger, jettisoning tower."_

* * *

_"Control, I'm reading a second stage burnout. Can you give me visual confirmation?"_

 _"That's a negative, you've just disappeared over the horizon. We're relaying comms through an eastern radio dish, so communications may be a little spotty."_

 _"Roger, I'm using the rear camera to confirm the separation now. And…confirmed."_

  
 _  
"Firing orbital operations motor."_

 _"Latona 1, telemetry has confirmed that your trajectory is on target for a 100 km orbit. Throttle down and prepare to coast to apoapsis."_

 _"Roger, Control. Engines cut."_

"Bilvin's about to be the first kerbal in space! This is groundbreaking history right here!" cheered Jenfry.

"Don't celebrate prematurely. She still needs to restart the orbital engine. If it doesn't light, the rocket will reenter on the opposite side of Kerbin!" worried Gusbin.

"Relax, Gus. I personally know the lead kerbal who worked on the LV-909 engine, and he reassured me that his team has tweaked it so that it can restart essentially infinitely," reassured Matdun. "I trust his work."

"Yeah, the engineering boys are the best there are at what they do; it'll work," chimed in Jenfry.

Just then, the radio squawked into life once more: _"This is the CKFN naval vessel Admiral Dunfry. We've received your telemetry, Mission Control, and have established communications with Latona 1. Patching you through now."_

 _"Control? Do you read me? Repeat, Control?"_

 _"Roger that,_ Latona _, we read you loud and clear."_

 _"Excellent. I'm reading about thirty seconds to apoapsis, and am preparing to fire the main engine for circularization burn."_

 _"You are all clear, everything looks nominal from down here"_

 _"Firing now"_

 _"Burn complete!"_

 _"Congratulations Bilvin, you are officially the first kerbal to orbit Kerbin!"_ The sound of cheering could be heard in the background as Danford spoke.

"Told you it would work!" said Matdun triumphantly.

"It never hurts to be cautious," Gusbin responded.

* * *

Back in the control room, Danford reopened communications. "How are you doing, Bilvin?"  
 _  
"Fantastic, you should see the view! I've never seen anything like it!"  
_

"Make sure to get pictures to share with us when you return! Now, your capsule only has enough supplies for one orbit, so we're on a tight schedule here. You will need to perform some experiments before reentering."

 _"Receiving you loud and clear, boss. Activating the experiments now. Bilfrod really wanted data, huh?"  
_  
"Apologies about making you do all the hard work, but as you know our probes don't exactly work well outside the atmosphere. Speaking of which, what's the radiation level?"

 _"I'm not reading much more than a standard background dose at sea level. The guys who built this capsule did good work!"_

"I will pass your thanks onto them. Alright, we're getting the data back from the scientific packages now."

 _"So, what's next?"_

"We now begin Phase One of the physiological testing. Heartbeat, blood pressure, brainwaves, Bilfrod wants it all!"

 _"Roger that…"_

* * *

One orbit, thirty minutes, and numerous scientific experiments later, Bilvin finally clicked off the instruments. _It's nice to finally have a chance to enjoy the view._ For the sights to be seen outside the window of the tiny spacecraft were truly breathtaking.

The pensive moment did not last long, for Bilvin had to deorbit, jettison the orbital motor and orient herself properly before the heat from reentry overwhelmed the capsule.

"Control, this is Latona 1. I'm commencing the deorbit burn now."

The throaty roar which had suffused the ship at liftoff was gone now, all that was left to remind Bilvin that an engine was firing was a slight vibration and a small force pushing her back into the seat. The burn complete, she throttled down and informed Mission Control of this event. Latona would hold onto the deorbit engine until it hit the atmosphere, in case an emergency course correction was required. Fortunately, the super-efficient LV-909 engine meant that there was still plenty of fuel left in the tank.

"Latona, you've now entered the outer layer of Kerbin's atmosphere. Jettison your orbital stage and be sure to orient yourself tail-first."

"Roger that, Control. See you on the other side." Hitting the necessary button on the control panel, a smooth ka-thunk reverberated through the capsule as the trusty engine and attached fuel tank floated away. Firing up the reaction wheels, Bilvin rotated the final piece of Latona 1 into position for reentry.

She hated the pause between jettisoning the engine and feeling the reentry burn. Simulations had prepared her for this, but the feeling of falling towards Kerbin's surface at more than two kilometres per second unnerved her. Strangely enough, when the bright flames began enveloping the capsule and the g-forces pushed her back in her seat, she felt more at ease. Now at least she was slowing down. 

* * *

"When do you think we'll be able to see it?" asked Matdun, waving her flashlight around. The sun had set during Bilvin's flight, and the grounded kerbonauts had moved outside shortly after _Latona 1_ 's orbital burn completed.

"Any minute now, she's just coming over the horizon," responded Gusbin, with a radio headset held up to his ear. "It sounds like the reentry burn has just begun."

"There she is now!" pointed Jenfry, as a bright star-like object rose slowly over the horizon. As it climbed higher in the sky, it quickly became apparent that this was no celestial body. A tail of fire reached out from the rear of the hypersonic projectile, and it was quite the sight for the trio as it streaked overhead.

"She's on target for a landing," Gusbin said, with palpable relief. "Wait a second; a crosswind is blowing the capsule into the mountains!"

"Why do you listen to that, Gus? It's just going to raise your blood pressure! She'll be fine, come watch the fireworks!" urged Jenfry.

Danford did not seem to share Jenfry's placid attitude. _"_ Latona 1 _, do you copy? Stand by for emergency parachute deployment."_  
 _  
"**###**rad***##no***###tact****###"_

 _"Blast! We're still getting too much interference! We'd better hope the auto-deployment mechanism works."_

  
 _  
"Ground control, do you read me? I've passed through the radio blackout and-MOTHER OF HARV!"_

 _"Bilvin? Bilvin? Are you alright?"_ Danford spoke, with more than a touch of worry.

 _"The parachute just deployed! I thought that was my job!"_

 _"Apologies, the auto-deploy mechanism is a last resort, it registered that you were too close to the ground and fired."_

 _"Too close? I thought I was still several kilometres up."_

 _"Look out your window"_

  
 _  
"The mountains? I must be really off course!"_

 _"Just by a few kilometres, don't worry. The recovery vessels are on their way."_  
 _  
"Roger, hope you don't mind if I get out and stretch my legs while I wait; it_ was _a tight fit._ "  
 _  
"That's a negative, pressure levels are too low up there. You'd have to be wearing a full pressure suit to be able to breathe."_

 _"We'll have to work on getting me one of those for next time, then."_  
 _  
"Ha ha, copy that Bilvin, see you shortly."  
_  
Oblivious to the drama unfolding via radio waves, Jenfry and Matdun both saw a tail of canvas and string grow to replace the one of fire and smoke and let out a cheer.

"Good chute! Bilvin's coming home safely!" said Matdun. Even Gusbin cracked a smile, as the recovery helicopters thundered overhead, chasing the gently falling capsule. 

* * *

**CKFN:** Several hours later.

* * *

Danford Kerman swallowed. He was present at yet another Advisory Council meeting, but unfortunately the President was too busy to attend this time. Without his leadership, the various kerbals had a tendency to start squabbling and end up wasting hours of the meeting time. (It turned out that the sale of cabbage was a particularly sore subject with the General). Fortunately, the news he had to share was good, so this meeting ought to go smoothly.

"So as you can see from my report, we achieved the first kerballed flight in history, beating the USKK, and did quite a lot of science along the way!"

Bilfrod had a massive smile on his face. "The data you've provided is exemplary; I have plans for experiments for the next ten flights!"  
General Geofnard spoke up. "So I see, Danford. I must say, I am impressed with what your team was able to accomplish. I admit that I was doubtful when I first saw the erm, facilities you were working out of, but the results are exemplary!" He leaned back, a gruff smile on his face.

"Indeed, Danford, this is quite the accomplishment. However, I noted that you submitted a request for an increase in your budget. We've been over this, the money you've been allotted is more than sufficient," Bilcas Kerman, Economics and Communications Minister stated, looking up from his papers.

Danford frowned. "We wouldn't have to work out of Jenfry's house, nor utilize a decades-old military base if we had some more funding for the program. Based upon this mission, is there room within the CKFN's budget for an expansion of-"

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again! The CKFN is undergoing far too many projects at the moment for something as trivial as this space program to be economically worthwhile!" Bilcas was generally fairly docile, but his temper tended to flare when the CKFN's budget was mentioned. "The money we've given you ought to be sufficient. Besides, you've accomplished this much on the budget so far, just keep doing what you have been doing."

Danford was momentarily struck dumb, searching madly for a reply that explained that they couldn't just keep sending one-kerbal pods into space forever, that expanding the space program was the only logical next step, but unfortunately, Bilcas took his silence for agreement. "Very well. That should be enough for today, meeting adjourned."

As the other council members filed out, Danford remained in his chair and let out a sigh. The launch went perfectly, it gathered important scientific data, as well as proved that they could match and exceed the USKK's achievements. So why was he not happy? _It's because of Bilcas_ , he thought to himself. _If we don't get more money, then the space program will stagnate._ He resolved to talk to the kerbal and see if he could perhaps persuade him to be a little less stingy in the future. Still, now was not the time to brood, it was time to celebrate! He jumped out of his chair and left the building.


	9. Probes No More

**USKK:** The next day

* * *

"They put a kerbal into space?"

Jebediah was dumbfounded by the announcement. Bob was too, but over a different issue.

"The CKFN accomplished this before us? How is this possible? I thought they couldn't even get a probe past the upper atmosphere?"

Bill Kerman, the kerbal who had delivered the news, expanded on it.

"From what I read, the issues they had with their probes drove them to desperation, launching a capsule aboard a beefed-up rocket. They build very nice ships, so I'm not surprised it went off well."

"We've got to match their achievement. Do we have a rocket which could lift a kerbal?" responded Jeb, still half in shock.

"Theoretically, we have a heavy-lift vehicle designed for a large probe, but it would take some time to be ready to fly. Besides, we can't just throw away our plans for the probe exploration program. You and I spent weeks hammering out that schedule!" Bill responded.

"Jeb's right, Bill," Bob cut in. "We have to beat the CFKN at any cost. If they have the capacity to launch payloads as heavy as a kerbal, they can launch weapons and drop them on our defenseless nation!"

"Oh come on, Bob, you've been listening to too many 'Blue Threat' broadcasts again, the CKFN is not a threat!" exclaimed Bill, throwing his hands in the air.

"You can never be sure," Bob folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. Jeb, on the other hand, jumped out of his seat and began scribbling on a blackboard. "Maybe if we lengthen Aether's body, attach side boosters, we don't have to design a whole new craft…"

"You're missing the point, Jeb. We've got a warehouse of probe parts and scientific instruments designed for them. We had a schedule!" Bill said, annoyed.

"The schedule be damned! We have a race to win! If they get kerbals to the Mun while we're still messing around with probes in orbit, we might as well not even be trying," shot back Jeb. "It might be challenging, but we'll discover so much along the way!"

"I still don't like it,"

"Let Jeb decide, Bill, he's the Director of the Space Program, after all," Bob pointed out.

"I don't like to pull rank on you guys, but we have to do something. We have the technology, and the brains behind it. We can do this!" said Jeb, still excitedly scribbling away on the chalkboard.

"Fine. You're right, we won't develop much new tech in Low Kerbin Orbit. But I still don't feel right about this. Aether 7 was pushing the limits of the engineers' capabilities. How on Kerbin will they build a bigger version?"

"Don't worry about it, Bill. You're the one who keeps telling Gene how the crews are better than he gives them credit for."

"Maybe you're right. We'll have to keep an eye on them though; we can't have any more incidents like Danbro dropping those decouplers again. This includes during launch, too! I don't like the number of our sounding rockets that exploded mid-flight!"

"Oh relax, Bill. We'll sort it out. Besides, it was only the first couple of ships that exploded, we fixed that issue for the last batch. Alright, I'll inform the VAB, let's start building a rocket!"

* * *

Bill caught Bob's arm as he was leaving the room. Jeb had already rushed off to Werhner Von Kerman's lab, his arms full of rocket sketches.

"How did you find out about the CKFN's difficulty with probes? Last I heard, it was still classified, both by our government and theirs. They don't even release the full details of their launches to their citizens, for devs' sake!"

"Oh…I-I was told about it, because I'm uh…part of the space program," Outside of Jeb's presence, Bob became a much more timid kerbal.

"I don't think you understand exactly how secret this is. The number of hoops I had to jump through to discover it was staggering. The USKK government is keeping their knowledge of the CKFN space program very, very highly classified. Now, I don't know if you overheard this while Jeb and I were talking or something, but you've got to be careful. There's no telling what might happen to you if you're discovered with knowledge beyond your position. I think you're a good kerbal, and have been a real help to the space program so far, so don't go trying to hear things that aren't meant for you. Got it?

"Y-y-yes sir."

"Great. I'll talk to you later." Bill left, leaving Bob standing in the middle of the room.

However, as Bill turned away, Bob's expression changed from a look of fear to one of smug superiority. After the older kerbal walked out the door, Bob let out a low chuckle, a slow smile spreading over his face.


	10. Watchdogs

**CKFN:** 6 Months Later

* * *

As Danford Kerman walked out of the supermarket, his thoughts were light and carefree, reflected by the casual smile he wore as he carried his bag of groceries. That changed to a frown of confusion, quickly to a wide-eyed moment of terror as he spotted the large semicircle of reporters and television cameras arrayed around the exit of the store. Less than a second passed before he was swarmed with reporters shouting questions, cameras flashing, and cameramen sticking their equipment in awkward places. As Danford was slowly engulfed by a growing pile of kerbals, a newscaster appeared in the foreground, and began speaking.

 _"Welcome back to Firesvar News. In the recent turn of events following the declassification of the CKFN Space Program, the previously little-known leader of the program, Danford Kerman, has been propelled into the spotlight. We have yet to find out what his plans are in response to the recent USKK manned missions,"_

At this, the broadcast cut back to the studio, where a well-dressed kerbal began narrating.

 _"Merely three weeks after the launch of_ Latona I _, the USKK launched a kerbal of their own into orbit, presumably aboard a modified version of their_ Aether 7 _launch vehicle. While our space program did strike back, launching Jenfry Kerman aboard_ Latona II _, within the past three weeks there have been no less than two kerballed launches from the USKK. Not only that, the rival space program has expanded their base of operations, renovating their Space Centre, as well as constructing additional launch sites across their country. Now, with the declassification of the space program, we can finally ask the Director of Operations himself the question which has been on everyone's minds: What does his program plan for a response? When will the CKFN see a rocket launch? We now return to our reporter on the street, to see if Danford is available for comment._

However, the chaos on the street had not abated much. The news cameras still showed Danford struggling through the raging tide of newscasters. It seemed like every news channel in the CKFN was here in this tiny grocery store's parking lot. Fortunately, the Firesvar News reporter was more acrobatic than most in the industry, vaulting over a pair of independent studios attempting to get a wide angle of Danford, who were then bowled over as the Firesvar cameraman pushed through to follow.

 _"Danford! Danford! Can you comment on the USKK's recent launches? Can you state when and how your program will respond? What are your plans for future exploration? Who will be the next kerbal in space?"_

Danford managed to shrug off these questions, and as a gap in the wall of newscasters opened up in front of him, he made a mad dash to his car, still clutching his battered bag of groceries. Reaching his vehicle, he wasted no time in getting in, even as the reporters banged on the sides like creatures from a horror film. Even as he drove away, several reporters tried to chase him on foot.

Now that their story had escaped, the reporters began gathering up their equipment, and the view switched back to the studio, where the reporter began speculating on Danford's refusal to comment.

* * *

Turning off the TV screen, the three present members of the Advisory Council leaned back in their chairs and started chatting among themselves, mostly about the newscast and this turn of events. However, within a matter of minutes they were interrupted by the door to their room being kicked in.

 **SLAM**

Danford Kerman stood there, his hair a mess, clothing rumpled and torn, and his battered bag of groceries still clutched in his left hand. He had eyes for only one kerbal in the room, Bilcas Kerman. Without even a pause for breath, he began shouting as he stalked over to the Communications Minister.

"Only one kerbal on Kerbin could possibly declassify the program and have the gall to neglect to tell me. Why did you do this, Bilcas? Why? You know I don't like this sort of public attention, in fact half the reason I agreed to take this job was because it was classified! I've got a job to do, I can't constantly be giving interviews, or have the media following me around all the time! Do you know how hard it was to find a store which sold my favourite apples? THEY WERE ON SALE, BILCAS. ON SALE."

Danford continued this rant for an impressively long time without drawing breath (he was part of choir in high school), but eventually he needed to pause, otherwise risk passing out. Bilcas took full advantage of this momentary respite to respond. "Take it easy Danford. Declassifying the entire space program was unexpected, I know, but it was costing us a fair amount of money to keep secret, and honestly, your rockets aren't much different than the USKK's. Besides, they share details of their space program with their citizens and its worked out fine for them so far."

"But the media…Bilcas, you just painted a target on my head. They're bloodthirsty; they're all going to want interviews, guest appearances, answering every little question they care to ask-I don't have time for that, I'm trying to run a space program!"

General Geofnard, who until now had been sitting in stunned silence at Danford's tirade, spoke up. "Do what I do, just give 'em a couple of good interviews, then just send a subordinate out to answer any further questions they have. They generally are pretty happy with that."

Bilcas continued. "The General speaks the truth, Danford. And while the increased media coverage may not be the easiest thing to live with, it should increase inspire kerbals to support their country, increasing national pride, as well as popular opinion about the space program, once you show them your lovely pictures!"

Danford, recognizing that Bilcas was not backing down, sank into a chair, burying his head in his hands. "Tell me the truth, Bilcas. Did you do this just to spite me? And where's the President? I'd like to get his take on this."

"What an absurd accusation, Danford! Everything I do, is for the good of the people of the CKFN!" responded Bilcas haughtily, but his eyes spoke a message much different than his words. "The President is away in West Jhazi, apparently there is a bit of…concern regarding the recent cabbage legislation. Not to worry, I already spoke with him about the declassification and he's all for it. Anyway, the budget has a surplus, since we're no longer keeping the program under wraps. I might be able to add that to your salary-it would make you a very wealthy kerbal."

 _So this is Bilcas' game,_ thought Danford. _Trying to bribe me into submission._ He was having none of that. "No Bilcas. Add the surplus to the space program's budget. The rockets need the money a lot more than I do."

"Heh. Maybe that will finally be enough for the program to start making progress."

Unfortunately for Bilcas, this was exactly the wrong thing to say. Danford erupted in rage again. "Progress? You want to see progress?" he shouted, leaping from his chair, startling the General and Bilfrod (who had been sitting in terrified silence ever since Danford had stormed in). "Schedule a press conference, at the Space Facility. I'm going to show you progress, more progress than you've ever seen!" Danford stormed out of the room, as sudden as he had entered, closing the door violently behind him.

 **SLAM**

* * *

 **CKFN:** 1.5 hours later, Facility for Space Research

* * *

Like children to an ice cream truck, the reporters swarmed toward the Facility. Danford watched them arrive, marvelling at the fact that there appeared to be even more than had been at the grocery store. While he most definitely disliked the kerbal, Bilcas certainly knew how to get things done.

As the crowd gathered, Danford led them into the VAB. While small in size compared to the USKK's, it was still larger than most buildings in the CKFN, and more than sufficient to build the Aether line of rockets. A pair of technicians' eyes widened at the sheer number of kerbals approaching, and they quickly scuttled away. Danford had firmly told the reporters that he would not be answering any questions until they had reached their destination, which made the journey mercifully quiet, if a bit awkward. At last, they arrived at the main chamber of the building, where all the rockets were designed, built, and tested.

Engineers, scientists, technicians, and ground control staff were everywhere within this massive room. Some were building what looked like the lower half of a rocket, others were testing responses of aerodynamic fins, still more were assembling a large rocket engine, some were cutting away at sheet metal, and at least six kerbals were napping, in specifically-chosen noise-free positions. The room almost seemed to characterize chaos itself, but as Danford's group entered, the various hammering, sawing, machining, and snoring gradually came to a halt. Silence filled the great room, as the space program's staff stared at the CKFN's entire news industry.

Clearing his throat, Danford spoke. "Greetings all. I trust you've had plenty of time to speculate about the future of the CKFN's space program, and as to what our response to the recent USKK launches will be. I'm here to throw all that speculation away, and show you our plan for yourselves."

At this, he gestured to the largest knot of staff in the centre of the room. They stood back, revealing the project they had been working on, a small capsule, roughly the size of a minivan.

The reporters seemed almost taken aback as they all rushed to take pictures and video of this spacecraft. Evidently, none of them had expected Danford to actually have anything in response to the USKK.

One reporter asked Danford a question, much less pointed than the ones that he had been receiving recently. "Danford, can you tell us exactly what we're looking at here? What is this spacecraft you've been working on?"

"This here is the next logical step in space exploration. Our first two flights of Aether were certainly productive and yielded a great deal of science and information, but we ran into difficulty when communicating with the pilot, and having him or her perform the experiments. With this two-kerbal design, we should be able to include a kerbonaut with scientific training to do experiments, while the pilot flies the spacecraft."

"Incredible! And how long will this stay in space for?" asked another kerbal.

"We've dramatically increased the life support functionality on this version of the spacecraft," responded Danford. "She should be able to remain in space for about a week, with both kerbals living comfortably on board. It is unlikely that we'll ever need to perform a mission of that length, but it is good to have the ability to last that long."

By now, the reporters had gotten over their initial shock at seeing the spacecraft, and were beginning to bombard Danford with questions again. "Will your current rockets be able to lift the capsule?" "What is the expected range of the spacecraft?" "What do you plan to accomplish with it?"

"The capsule will be heavier than the _Aether_ spacecraft, this much is certain. However, we have extended the body of the rocket used to lift that ship, as well as added more power to the engines. This will allow us to easily lift the spacecraft into Kerbin orbit, going higher than any spacecraft has ever gone before. It possesses an integrated propulsion system, which runs off four smaller engines, rather than the single LV-909 we were using on the Aether spacecraft. This allows us to retain the engines upon reentry, giving us the ability to prevent the capsule from being blown off-course on landing, like the _Aether_ was, on both occasions it flew."

"You mentioned advanced life support. What steps have you taken to avoid its systems being fried by the same radiation that messes with your probes?"

At this, Danford grimaced. Evidently, Bilcas had declassified all of the space program's reports. Fortunately, he had an answer.

"Since kerbals tend to be vulnerable to radiation too, we have thoroughly rad-proofed the entire spacecraft. This allowed us to place our most advanced computers onboard, which lets us perform even more data collection and analysis while on-orbit. Additionally, it helps our pilot out, as attempting to gauge angular velocity by using a sextant is apparently quite difficult. (the crowd chuckled at this) We intend to use this spacecraft as a stepping stone on the eventual journey to reach the Mun, by researching and testing the technology and hardware required to make that journey."

The assembly of reporters broke into applause, their questions momentarily forgotten, or rendered obsolete by this new announcement of the CKFN Space Program's target: the Mun!

However, the reporter from Firesvar News had one last query. Stepping forward, they asked Danford, "And what is the name of this spacecraft?"

Danford answered simply. " _Caelus._ " 

* * *

After this speech, the media dispersed. Their questions were answered, and they all wished to return to their respective studios so that they could broadcast the news to the entire CKFN.

Danford sat in his office, utterly exhausted. He had attempted eating one of the apples he'd purchased earlier in the day, but found it to be bruised all over. Still, he had accomplished something he'd previously thought impossible: sating the media's desire for information.

Reading a report on the reception of this surprise broadcast from the Space Facility, Danford realized that the people of the CKFN supported the space program as much as, or even more so than the USKK's population. He'd already seen interviews of random citizens expressing their approval of _Caelus_ spacecraft, as well as his policy towards the exploration of space so far.

 _Maybe Bilcas was right, but not in the way he intended._ Danford mused, watching the sun set. _The people do need an ideal to look up to, but that ideal isn't a faceless government telling them what they should believe, but perhaps it needs to be a vision for exploration, a call to discover what lies beyond our tiny planet. Maybe this space program can inspire the people of Kerbin to do great things._


	11. Negative Gees

**USKK:** Jebediah Kerman's Personal Retreat, twenty minutes earlier.

* * *

Jebediah jogged towards his plane. Being the Director of an entire Space Program sure did have its perks, a private jet was only one of them. This launch facility had been constructed as a backup to the main Space Centre while renovations were underway. Now that they were complete and main operations had been moved back south, Jeb had decided to make this base his own special getaway, where he could plan the future of the Space Program, meet with important bigwigs, and most importantly, get some flying in once in a while. At the moment, he was indeed indulging in the latter, as the launch of the USKK's newest kerballed mission was about to commence and he needed to get down to the Space Centre quickly!

Climbing the ladder, Jeb gave a thumbs-up to the ground crew. As the cockpit glass slid shut over his head, he powered on the instruments and began the preflight checklist. As the jet engine spooled up, he pulled on his helmet. This was always his favourite part of the launch; the vibration of the plane gently increased in frequency, whispering to him of the journey ahead.

Flight! To think that barely a year ago, kerbals could only stare up at the sky wistfully, dreaming of touching the Mun and the stars. He marvelled at the ability of the scientists and engineers that had made this all possible, not to mention the others. The entire Space Program would have been nothing but a tiny government-run sideshow (much like the CKFN's) if the large corporations of the USKK hadn't pooled their resources and funded his dream.

A crackle in his earpiece brought him out of his reverie.

" _You ready to fly, Jeb?"_ asked the ground controller.

"Roger that, Tower. All systems are green, and engines are spooled up," he responded. Upon receiving clearance to head out, Jeb disengaged the brakes, taxied down the runway, and took off into the clear blue skies.

* * *

"Big J to KSC-1, Big J to KSC-1, do you read me, over?"

 _"*sigh* Hi Jeb."_ The voice of the ever-suffering Gene came over Jeb's headset.

"Jeb? Who is this Jeb? On the radio, you have to refer to me as 'Big J', remember, over?" replied Jeb, trying to get a rise out of the kerbal.

 _"Yeah, sure. 'Big J', what's your status? …Over?"_ Gene responded, somehow pronouncing the quotation marks.

"So glad you asked, KSC-1, I'm flying high and fast, it's a beautiful day for a launch! How's Jorfred doing, over?"

 _"Oh, I can put you through to him personally."_ Some static came over the radio, _"There you are, Fred."_

 _"D-director Jeb! It is a pleasure to speak with y-you, sir!"_ The kerbonaut sounded quite nervous, though whether for the launch or simply the opportunity to talk with the space program's Director, Jeb wasn't sure.

"There's no need to call me 'sir', just call me Jeb. How are you feeling?"

 _"I'm doing well, sir Jeb! I'm all set to head into space. It's going to be my first time up there, and I'm worried I'm not going to do a good job!"_

"Don't worry, Jorfred. You'll do fine. Gene, what's the status on the rocket?"

 _"She's ready to launch, the countdown stands at ten minutes, and we're ready to proceed as soon as you get here."_

"Perfect. Keep me updated."

* * *

Five minutes out from KSC, Jeb's earpiece crackled to life again.

"What's up Gene?"

 _"Uh…you're going to want to see this, boss."_

"See what? What's going on? Is _Kaether IV_ still operational?"

 _"Yes, the rocket's fine, but it's…well…we picked up a CKFN news broadcast."_

"So? They're always covering useless stuff. Like cabbage sales! Who cares about cabbages anyway?"

 _"This time it's different. They're covering footage from their space program."_

"Their space program? But it's a secret government project. The only way they could be covering footage is if…"

 _"They declassified the program. Somebody in the CKFN wants attention."_

"I'll say. They must be getting desperate for funding. So what's the subject?"

 _"I'm not sure. Right now the Director of their space program is leading the news crews into their VAB."_

"Heh, he's probably trying to pass off whatever collection of junk they're working on as their next rocket!"

 _"Ha ha, judging by the state of that place, it doesn't look like you're too far off! Wait, they're focusing on some sort of capsule…what's this?"_

"Gene?"

 _"It can't be…oh good SQUAD it is. They're working on a spacecraft-that can carry two kerbals!"_

"What? Two kerbals?" Jeb sat back in his seat, letting the full enormity of this piece of news wash over him. Having a second kerbal on a mission would enable tremendous new opportunities for missions. The second pair of hands could operate experiments, take pictures, even pilot the spacecraft while the first kerbonaut was busy. The idea had been tossed around by his scientists and engineers, but no one had dared build such a design, as the current generation of rockets was barely powerful enough to lift one kerbal.

Gathering his wits, Jeb reactivated the comm. "When are they expecting to launch?"

 _"Within the month. What should we do, boss?"_

"I don't know Gene…I just don't know." Jeb pondered his options. On one hand, he could launch Jorfred right now, and claim a total of four kerballed missions to space. However, launching a single pod right after the CKFN had announced their larger, more advanced model smacked of ignorance and failure. On the other hand, he could hold off launching until they had developed a two-kerbal capsule of their own, but that might take too much time. What to do?

 _"Boss, the boys in Mission Control are getting anxious. They want to know how we'll proceed."_

As Gene's voice entered his ear, Jeb dropped below the clouds, seeing the Space Centre directly beneath him, with _Kaether IV_ sitting on the launchpad, Jorfred secured away inside.

Looking at the rocket, Jeb was struck with an idea. Coming to a decision, Jeb spoke. "We're scrubbing the launch. Get Jorfred out of the ship, but don't dismantle it just yet…I have a plan."

* * *

 **USKK:** Two weeks later

* * *

Things were as hectic as ever in the VAB, as the countdown ticked once more towards launch. Gene Kerman strode through a knot of scientists inspecting gauges and readouts plugged into the rocket, which had been wheeled back into the VAB. Approaching the Lead Engineer, Gene spoke up.

"Danbro! How are the systems coming along? You said they'd be done by this morning!"

Turning around, Danbro replied. "Not a problem, bro. We're just having a bit of difficulty with the electric systems, the added pod draws too much power. Burmy here was suggesting we just add more batteries," he gestured to the kerbal to his immediate right, whose suggestion evidently was popular, by the amount of nodding and thumbs up given by the surrounding crowd.

To tell the truth, Gene did not know (nor care) how this rocket worked. It was his job to make sure they got into the sky, nothing more. So it was with feigned knowledge he replied: "Sure, sure, that would work well. Attach those batteries and make sure we are good to launch before 3. I want this ship in space before dark."

"Roger that, bud!" Danbro said with a smile. Turning back to his group of engineers, he motioned them into work.

Gene continued along, looking up at the rocket. Fundamentally, it was not much different from its original model, the _Kaether IV_. While most of the systems hadn't changed, the most striking addition was the welding of an additional pod upside-down on top of the original. More changes were the boosters along the bottom of the ship, which widened its base significantly. Spotting Bill, along with another couple engineers next to one of the boosters, Gene rushed over, checking his clipboard. It was Jebediah's idea to add larger, higher thrust boosters to the original _Kaether_ rocket in order to lift the additional pod. These newly-designed 'Solid Rocket Boosters' suited his plans very nicely.

"What's the status on the SRBs, Bill?" Gene asked, feeling proud that he knew the acronym for the boosters. Knowing the lingo for parts was very important for if he was to appear knowledgeable about rockets.

"Hi Gene. They're good to go, but Desdan here wants to add more struts to make sure they're properly secured to the rocket on liftoff. I say that the decouplers are more than strong enough, and besides, we're dumping them about 90 seconds into flight, so they won't have much time to vibrate loose. What's your opinion?"

More policy choices! What did people think he was, a rocket scientist? "Uh, how long will attaching the struts take?"

"Anywhere from two to six days. We don't have the necessary parts on hand, so we'd have to order them specially."

While Gene did not understand much about rockets, timetables were his forte. "Nope. That's too much of a delay. We're already behind schedule enough as it is. Bill's right, Desdan."

Desdan looked crestfallen, but Bill was thrilled. "Perfect! Once Danbro finishes with the electrical systems, we should be ready to roll the rocket out to the launchpad!"

Even as he spoke, Danbro's posse advanced towards the rocket, with AAAA batteries and what looked suspiciously like duct tape in hand.

* * *

USKK: Three hours later

* * *

Gene was satisfied. From his usual position in Mission Control, he noted that the rocket had been rolled out ahead of schedule, and all systems checked out.

"Jorfred, Erdrin, what's your status?" he asked, toggling the comms.

 _"Roger that Control, we're strapped in and systems are reading good"_ came the voice of Erdrin, the kerbal sitting in the lower pod.

"Excellent, all systems are go on this end, preparing to restart the countdown."

The big countdown timer at the front of the room restarted from its position at 5:00:00, and it was at this moment when Jebediah walked into the room, still in his flight suit. He had evidently just returned from his private island.

"So glad you could make the launch," said Gene, with perhaps more than just a touch of sarcasm.

"Sorry!" Jeb responded, with his usual enthusiasm. "A couple of CEOs from our sponsorship group wanted to talk. They were saying something about 'increasing public visibility' and 'profit margins', but it's not important right now. We've got a rocket to launch!"

"That we do," said Gene, turning back to the staff in Mission Control. "Alright people, double and triple-check those systems! We're now at three minutes to launch!"

* * *

Jorfred switched on his internal communicator and radioed his partner.

"Say, Erdrin, how are you doing?"

 _"Good, I'm excited to go back to space! How about you? You sound nervous."_

"Uh…nope, I'm just excited too!"

Jorfred quickly turned off the comm. To tell the truth, he was nervous, but didn't want to reveal it to his partner, or Harv forbid, the Ground Control team. They might take him off this mission! He'd already been denied that chance once before, and he was going to space today, yessiree. However, sitting in the upper capsule was not much fun. Since Erdrin scored lower than he in the centrifuge, he'd be riding upside-down the whole way up, and thus taking more negative _g_ forces.

He'd asked around, questioning kerbals who had also experienced negative _g_ 's what it was like. Unfortunately, the experiences were universally negative. One kerbal had explained in excruciating detail the discomfort you felt as you were dragged out of your seat, the straps digging into you as if an invisible hand was attempting to pluck you from your capsule. And Jorfred would have to endure this for the whole way up!

Already he was getting sore from sitting upside-down in the 1 _g_ of Kerbin's gravity. He couldn't imagine what the launch would be like. As the radio informed them that one minute remained on the countdown, he began cursing the engineers and scientists who had decided to place the pod this way. 'Increased protection upon reentry,' they had said. 'It just looks nicer,' they said (Indeed, Danbro had commented at length on the importance of a good hourglass figure). Jorfred knew that if they'd taken extra time to refit the interior so that he was sitting right-side-up, it would have resulted in the CKFN launching their twin-kerbal pod first, and that certainly couldn't be allowed. Though it was quite difficult to feel very patriotic when sitting upside-down in a tiny capsule, straps digging into one's chest.

Then came the crackle of the radio Jorfred dreaded.

 _"Twenty seconds until launch"_

Well, at least he was going to space. From the stories the others told, as well as the pictures they brought back, it ought to be incredible.

 _"Fifteen"_

Still, he wished he was at least facing the right way up, though in zero- _g_ he wouldn't have to worry about that, right?

 _"Ten. All systems nominal"_

He was glad that he didn't have to worry about piloting the ship, Erdrin was taking over that job since she'd had more experience flying rockets. She'd actually been in orbit twice in the last two months, and was the natural choice for piloting an as-of-yet untested rocket. All he had to do was grin and bear it.

 _"Five"_

 _"Four"_

 _"Three"_

Jorfred squeezed his eyes shut.

 _"Two"_

 _"One"_

His world erupted into one of noise, vibration, and pain. The shaking alone was nearly unbearable, it caused his headset to start vibrating its way around his helmet. Not that he paid much attention to what was being said over it; the deep bass rumble from the rocket engines combined with the endless shaking served to drown out all other noise. But this all paled in comparison to the sheer pressure being applied to his back. Forget the invisible hand, this felt like a hydraulic ram forcing him forwards in his seat.

Opening his eyes did not improve the situation. The interior of the capsule was a blur; the vibrations of the main engine prevented him from focusing on any one point inside the ship.

His eyes feeling like they were about to escape his skull certainly did not help his vision. More worryingly, though, Jorfred began seeing black spots encroach upon his field of view. His vision slowly darkened, as it became more and more difficult to draw breath. The straps keeping him in his seats were like twin brands burning across his chest, but even that pain began to dull as his vision faded. His last thoughts as he drifted away were worries about whether he'd ever get to see Kerbin from space.

* * *

Jorfred was floating in the ocean. No wind, no waves, just bobbing along gently, so gently. Save for the occasional squawk of an annoying seabird in his ear, that is. As his mind slowly began to come back to reality, he realized that he was in fact not doing the backfloat on a sunny Kerbin afternoon, but instead in a cramped, dark capsule, hovering above his seat. Wait…where were his straps? In a daze, he fumbled around, only to find that one was still over his shoulder, but the other had snapped cleanly away from where it joined with the capsule. _Lousy engineers_ , he grumbled to himself. Now that he was more awake, he did a quick once-over of himself. He was still clad within his flight suit, rated for only high-altitude flight, not the hard vacuum on the other side of his capsule's walls. While the suit looked fine, his body did not feel well at all. He ached all over, and his eyes wouldn't focus right. He had a killer headache, to match the two pains down his front where the straps had been. He wouldn't be surprised if he found himself sporting bruises for a very long time after he'd landed.

Looking through the window, he spotted the planet Kerbin. He'd seen the pictures, but they always lacked a certain…something. The yellow-spotted dark blue curve outside his window was magnificent, made more so by being the only home he, and indeed every other kerbal throughout history had ever known. Despite knowing that pictures wouldn't fully capture the sight of the planet, he began searching for his camera…only to be met with a stabbing pain in his side. He'd only been given a basic first aid course at the Kerbonaut Training Centre, but he knew enough to self-diagnose a broken rib. _Great. Just great,_ he thought to himself. But before he could get to patching himself up, the calls of his partner reached him over his headset, the 'annoying seabird' of earlier.

 _"Calling all frequencies, this is Erdrin Kerman aboard the_ Uranus I _. My crewmate is not responding, and am out of contact with my ground station. Repeat, this is-"_

"Erdrin, don't worry! I'm fine!" reassured Jorfred, slightly hoarsely.

 _"Thank SQUAD you're alright! You've only been out for about ten minutes, but I didn't realize it until we had passed out of range of Ground Control. I don't blame you for passing out though; that takeoff was much rougher than usual!"_

"Well, other than a few bruises and a headache, I survived!" Jorfred purposely neglected to mention his other injuries, just in case she and Control decided to end the mission early. He was going to tough this mission out! Who knew when he'd get another shot at this?

 _"That's good to hear. Anyways, we should be about fifteen minutes away from passing back over USKK territory, we should be able to get a signal then. Did you receive much of a briefing of what we're supposed to be doing up here? I think somebody stuck a thermometer or something on the side."_

Nursing his side, Jorfred tried to recall. He'd been too excited to pay much attention at the time. "Uh…not that I can remember, no. I think this mission was planned just to beat the CKFN's launch. It's pretty much the _Kaether V_ with an extra capsule thrown on top. I'm glad they decided to change the name though."

 _"Really? I liked how they added a 'k' to the front of the_ Aether's _name, it was a clever touch; it showed that it's a kerballed version of the_ Aether _probe!"_

"True, but now it seems people are starting to add 'k's to every single word out there. I even saw an ad for 'konuts' the other day!"

 _"Hey, if it keeps people interested in the Space Program, I don't mind. At least we don't have to resort to press conferences like the CKFN did!"_

"I agree, that looked like a madhouse." Jorfred realized they were passing over that very nation right now. Despite being over one hundred kilometres away, he still felt uncomfortable talking about it, fearing those newskerbals may be listening in. "I wonder if-ow!"

In Jorfred's efforts to look for his first aid kit, he had inadvertently and very painfully discovered that he had also damaged his left knee in some way.

 _"What's wrong, Fred?"_

"Er…nothing. Just banged my head on the side of the capsule."

 _"Wow, you're out of your straps already? I didn't even unbuckle until my second mission-I was too scared."_

"Heh…it was sort of a spur of the moment thing, y'know?"

 _"Totally, being out of your seat is amazing. You can't maneuver much in these capsules, but it feels like flying!"_

"…It sure does," Jorfred certainly did not feel like he was flying. He'd braced himself in his seat to prevent any aggrivation of his injuries. Fortunately, the rest of him was undamaged, his vision had improved, and even his headache was starting to fade. He did see the truth in Erdrin's words, though. Up here, far above the clouds, above the petty squabbling of nations, one felt truly free. He gazed at the lights of cities below, trying to imagine each individual kerbal going about his or her daily life. Did they even pay attention to the skies above? Did they see the stars through the clouds, or even dare to dream of visiting them one day? Based on his past experiences, he estimated that the majority did not, but there were a certain few who put all logic aside and looked up with a passion.

Jorfred had always been one of those few kerbals, and look where he was now! The journey had certainly been hard, long, and painful (most especially so recently), but it had most certainly been worth it. As the Space Centre came back into range of their antenna and communication began in earnest again, he gazed out the window one more time and stared at the endless vista of stars.


	12. Rocket Science

**CKFN:** Several hours later

* * *

Danford Kerman wandered through the halls of the space facility. He was still in shock at the speed at which the USKK managed to get a two kerballed spacecraft launched. The _Caelus_ was still at least a couple of weeks away from launching! By C7's beard, how did they get a ship together that quickly? He would have to push the engineers extra hard to get their capsule ready for launch. Maybe they could cut a few corners on production, or reduce the number of unmanned tests. After all, the rockets launched so far were very well-built, and maybe the extensive testing was just slowing the program down? He'd have to talk to his engineers.

As luck would have it, as he walked by the break room, Danford saw a bunch of engineers sitting around, watching TV and drinking coffee. He was about to speak up and let them know of his decision, then he saw what they were watching. He'd seen the launch of the USKK's rocket earlier, and realized he was now looking at the landing. _Uranus I_ had evidently orbited for a few hours before reentering.

Coming closer, he overheard what the engineers were saying to one another.

"Me? I'm surprised the ship even got up there in the first place. Using SRBs on a kerballed launch? It's insane! Unless you're really clever, your thrust to weight ratio is going to be all wonky."

"Yep, TWR leads straight to the _g_ -forces on the pilots. Judging by how fast that thing went up, I'd say they experienced about ten at max Q."

"Ten gees? No way, they couldn't have pulled more than seven."

"I recorded the footage then measured the rocket's acceleration. It definitely hit over one hundred metres per second per second."

"Dilbrett, only you would record our rival's rocket takeoff footage, then measure the screen to figure out its acceleration profile."

"Hey, I was curious! Besides, you know what they say about 'knowing thine enemy' and all that"

"Quiet you two! The capsule just landed."

"Pff, they didn't even position the parachutes correctly. Look, the whole thing just fell over!"

"And look at that weld! It looks like they just strapped another capsule and SRBs to their original ' _Kaether_ ' design. Amateurs."

"Explains how they managed to launch so quickly."

"I'm more concerned for the kerbal inside. I mean, surely they didn't just weld a stock capsule on, upside-down, to their original design?"

The camera zoomed in on the spacecraft, and one could very clearly see that the kerbal inside was inverted.

"Well, I'll be…" said the engineer who had just spoke, in astonishment. The other engineers began talking quickly among themselves.

"Has anyone even thought of doing an upside-down launch?"

"Never, the negative gee forces would be too much, and that's with a standard launch vehicle."

"Minus ten gees…ouch."

"Yeah, that kerbal's never going to fly again."

While the screen showed that both hatches had opened on the capsule, only one of the two kerbals had emerged. The upper kerbonaut still remained inside the capsule. The recovery team's expressions shifted from smiles at the safe return of the spacecraft to concern, as they swarmed around the kerbal, lifting him out of the capsule and onto a stretcher. The news camera appeared to be too far from the landed capsule to see much more of their actions. A hush fell over the CKFN engineers as they watched.

The lead engineer, Dilbrett Kerman, spotted Danford, and made his way over to him.

"Danford! It's good to see you! I was actually going to head on over to your office with my opinions on the _Uranus_! To make a long story short, the USKK's rocket quality is certainly not improving."

Danford was shocked. "What? They've launched nearly double the amount of missions we've managed to! And in case you didn't notice, they just beat us at our own game!"

"Ah ah ah, I said quality, not quantity, and that makes all the difference. To be frank, the USKK builds terrible rockets, and this one is no exception."

"It looks pretty capable to me"

"Fine. _Relatively_ terrible is a better way to describe it. Basically, while their rockets do work, they just don't have the engineering skill to get them working well. To be fair, this hasn't mattered so far; the current rockets are pretty much glorified fireworks. But as the rockets edge into Project Jupiter-sized vessels, I guarantee to you that things like today are going to go wrong."

"I told you, the Advisory Council will never approve Project Jupiter. It's best to just forget about it for now." Despite his dismissive words, Danford was interested what Dilbrett was saying.

"Yes, yes, but my point still stands. We can't keep launching these small ships into orbit. Besides, the USKK is still having issues. You may not have bothered to check, but I listened to the communications from the capsule, and there were a number of other things going wrong with the spacecraft."

"Like wha-wait a minute. Only the USKK ground control can listen to those broadcasts. How in Harv's name did you manage that?"

"If the ship's passing overhead and you know what frequency band to listen at, it's trivial. But that's not important right now. The kerbonauts on board reported flickering lights, fuses repeatedly blowing, that sort of thing. While it may seem like a minor issue, and was dismissed as such by USKK ground control, there is actually a more insidious explanation."

At this, Dilbrett held up a black-and-white photo, showing the interior of the USKK's VAB, where a team of engineers was installing a pair of batteries. Danford wasn't even going to ask where his Head Engineer had obtained this.

"As you can see, they're just sticking these batteries inside without any real care to where they go. I know you're not an electrical engineer, but let me just say that doing that is bad. Really bad."

"So their problem is that they stick batteries in places randomly?"

"Their problem is that they have no idea what they're doing. One can very clearly see from their very first rockets, that they build something, launch it, see what went wrong, then fix that problem."

Danford was confused. "How is that a problem? It seems like it's a perfectly valid approach."

"Indeed, for small, inexpensive prototypes, like their initial sounding rockets. It's fast, cheap, and gives concrete results. However, for larger ships, if you rely on your main design to do your testing for you, let's just say you're going to have a bad time."

"I'm sorry Dilbrett. I see where you're coming from, but I don't understand how this relates to the CKFN. From what you're saying, the USKK is just going to have more problems like today. I can't do anything about that. Likewise, you seem to have all this figured out. Just keep doing what you've been doing, it's been working well so far!"

"You have more power than you realize, Danford. You've got the President's ear, and have made a major mark on this nation so far. But you have to realize that we are forced to go where he tells us to. Rumor has it that the President wants to move up the first launch of the _Caelus_ because of what happened today. We're still two weeks off from our first unmanned test; please do all you can to give us that time. If we're forced to launch earlier, kerbals will die."

If his head engineer's earlier words hadn't convinced Danford, it was this frank statement, combined with the silent plea within Dilbrett's eyes, which won the kerbal over.

"I'll do my best, Brett. But you've got to give me results."

At this, Dilbrett's somber expression changed to a broad smile.

"Oh, don't you worry sir. I'll give you the show of a lifetime."


	13. A Very Kerbal Investigation

**USKK:** Several days later.

* * *

The large brick walls of Kolus City General Hospital loomed large over Bill. Following the directions a nurse gave him, he eventually found himself at room 426C. Opening the door, he felt a pang of sympathy for the kerbal lying on the bed, bandages over his eyes. He spoke up.

"Hi Jorfred, it's Bill here, from the Space Program."

As Jorfred turned around in excitement, Bill was relieved to see that the kerbal turned easily, and excitedly. Seeing the kerbal's smile told him far more than a thousand medical files could.

" _Bill Kerman_? Thank you so much for coming, sir; it's an honour to meet you!"

"It's no trouble at all, I wanted to make sure you were alright. Jeb would have been here too, but he's dealing with matters back at the Space Centre."

"I only wish I could stand up and shake your hand, but the nurse says I shouldn't get out of bed. I'm still healing."

"About that…how are your eyes? I'd heard that you were…" Bill trailed off.

"Don't worry! I can still see. The doctors did good work; I've just got these bandages on my eyes so I don't strain them. Nurse's orders."

"I'm glad your optimism has survived intact. Listen, I'm so sorry about the accident. An investigation is underway at the Space Centre right now, and I can assure you that no more kerbals will be hurt like you. My only regret is that this had to happen to open everyone's eyes to the danger of space travel."

"Don't be sorry; this whole thing was my fault."

Bill was momentarily speechless. "What?"

"I'm so sorry about all this. I shouldn't have gone on the mission…I…I was scared, and thought I would be removed if I'd admitted it. I really wanted to go to space…a-and see Kerbin."

"Listen, Fred..."

Jorfred continued. "And you know what? That view…to see the curve of our planet…it was worth it, Bill. It was so, so worth it."

Bill reached over and touched Jorfred's shoulder, words failing him. Then, the invalid kerbal caught him by surprise.

"Bill, will I still be able to fly? I mean, my kneecap's busted, I punctured a lung, and my vision will never really be the same."

Bill swallowed. This was the part he'd been dreading. Having to tell this young, bright-eyed kerbal the news. (Well, Bill assumed he was bright-eyed at least, as the bandages obscured that region of his face). In a small voice, Bill responded. "No. You'd be ineligible on the knee alone."

"Thanks Bill. I-I guess I just wanted to hear it from you, rather than reading it on a letter, or from some faceless government agent."

Again, Bill said nothing. What could he say?

* * *

Ron and Don were overlooking the Space Centre grounds, discussing recent events.

"So, how about that investigation that's been making the rounds? I hear they already got to you. How was it? Any advice?" asked Ron.

"Oh, that. What a pain. It's sort of like a TV interview. They've got a camera and an interviewer asking me all these questions about our training and the rockets. Just answer all their questions and they should be satisfied. I hear they're more interested in the engineers, anyway."

"Who's running this show, again? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a few questions. Don't they already know what the problem was, anyway?"

"I think it's Director Jeb. Apparently he wants to make sure that there are no more problems, though I hear Bill was pretty instrumental in getting that pushed through. He's really serious about making sure this space program is safe."

"After poor Jorfred, who'd blame him? How is Fred, by the way?"

"Apparently he's doing really well! He should be out of the hospital by the end of the week."

"That's great news! Is he going to fly the next mission?" Ron asked excitedly; he'd been worried about

"No. I talked to Bill, and he's unfit to fly. I think it's his leg, or maybe his vision. I don't know."

"What? But what about the Space Program? How will we keep up with only three kerbonauts?"

"Apparently Jeb wants to hire more kerbals. We've been needing more, with the two seats in the _Uranus_. Gotta fill out those backup crews!"

"I guess you're right. Still, it's going to be weird with all of those new faces; I don't think I'll be able to keep track of them all!" Ron was terrible with names.

"Don't worry, there won't be more than three or four newbies that'll make it through the selection process. You'll make do." 

* * *

"So, what can you tell us about the _Uranus I_ mission, Mr. Danbro?"

The investigation team sat in a small room with the USKK Lead Engineer.

"Well, not all that much, really. It was a normal build, launch, etc. I guess the only difference is that we added some more batteries to the main capsule…oh, and those SRBs we attached at the last minute."

The head investigator leaned forward, removing his glasses as he did so.

"Those SRBs… Can you tell me why they were attached so late?"

"Well, we were thinking that the extra pod on top would be too heavy for the liquid engines to lift. So we strapped on a couple of SRBs and she took off like a charm!"

"I'm looking at the flight data here, and apparently the rocket sustained accelerations of more than 10 _g_ on ascent."

Danbro let out a low whistle. "Gotta love SRBs."

"That kerbal in the hospital would beg to differ. Now, I'm certainly no rocket scientist, but I'd think that adding more engines would be something one would do with plenty of notice, correct?"

"Well, I talked about it with the crew, they said 'sure', so we stuck them on. No paperwork necessary!"

"Wait…Are you telling me you don't fill out the required requisition forms?"

"Ha ha, no way! I usually get an intern to do 'em. Or I just don't complete 'em at all! Nobody minds, as long as the rockets get up there!"

At this, the interviewer paused, speechless.

"Ah…Well…I see. You may go, Danbro."

"Are you sure? Don't you have more questions? I can tell you more about the rocket!"

"No, no. That's quite alright, thank you."

With a slightly confused look, Danbro left the room.

* * *

"Fire Danbro."

The head investigator had only one recommendation for Jeb. Sighing, the Director looked up.

"And why would I do that?"

"The kerbal's interview itself is nothing. I interviewed countless engineers and staff, all whom report his behaviour as reckless, dangerous, and more often than not, plain stupid!"

"You can't deny that he gets results. He's made all sorts of things fly!"

"Exactly. He's made things fly which shouldn't fly, and when they decide not to fly again, the kerbals riding in them are going to have a very bad day."

"He's my Lead Engineer! Who will replace him?"

"I don't know, pick any engineer. Even an intern could do a better job than he's been doing."

"And if I decide to ignore your recommendation?"

"Then the Board of Directors will revoke your funding. In their words: 'Dead kerbals aren't profitable.'"

Jeb sat back. "What if I appointed an assistant to Danbro? Promoted an intern, or someone who knew what they were doing, to add a voice of reason to his work? Would the Board be satisfied?"

The investigator paused. "I'll discuss it with them. Why are you so insistent on keeping this kerbal, Jeb?"

"Let's just say that I learned a long time ago that you can't always do things by the book, and having someone who's not afraid to think outside the box on your side is invaluable."

A low chuckle came from the investigator's throat. "And we don't have enough of that with you?" He sighed. "Very well. I'll talk to the Board, and see what we can do. Goodnight Jeb." And he was gone, leaving Jeb alone in his office.

* * *

 **The next day**

* * *

Jebediah was speaking to the media, who had been anxious for news ever since hearing of the investigation.

"…so ultimately due to a variety of factors, the regrettable _Uranus I_ incident was allowed to happen. Fortunately, we have identified the issues, and are working to rectify them. Unfortunately, the head of our engineering department was responsible for several of these errors."

At this, Danbro stood up and walked over to the microphone.

"What can I say? I'm only kerbal!"

This prompted quite the chuckle from the assembled media. Jeb continued.

"As he has proven to be a substantial asset to the Space Program thus far, I am appointing an assistant to Danbro to assist him with the complicated decisions he must face every day, as well as provide an additional error checking step in the process our rockets undergo before launch. Doodbro, would you please stand up?"

The kerbal sitting next to Danbro rose.

"'sup?" he said, joining Jeb at the microphone.

"Ahem…yes, as you can see, Doodbro is a prime example of the knowledgeable and professional staff we at the USKK Space Centre employ on a daily basis."

"Ah, dude, is this gonna last much longer? I gotta split in about ten." Doodbro asked Jeb, seemingly forgetting that the microphone was still on.

"As I said, _knowledgeable and professional_ ," Jeb said, his smile becoming a bit fixed.

Fortunately, Danbro was there to break the awkward moment. A joke, and describing the USKK's next few missions sated the media's appetite soon enough, and the crowd shortly dispersed.

But which none of the three kerbals realized was that something had been born that day. Kerbals, like humans, are brought together by shared experiences, and nearly everyone in the USKK had been watching that broadcast. As such, everyone had seen Danbro respond with: 'I'm only kerbal,' and slowly that quote turned itself into a new catchphrase. Whenever a kerbal screwed up, they'd utter those words, and all around them would share a laugh. As time went on, the phrase shortened itself (as these things do), until it became only one word: kerbal. Used as an adjective, one would call something 'kerbal' if it _worked_ , but not as originally intended, and more times than not, unsafely. Did your tailpipe come off your car? Why bother with a mechanic, just duct tape it back on! That's such a kerbal solution! Even the space program got caught up in the craze; their solutions (like just strapping more boosters to a rocket) were popularized as being 'kerbal' by the general public, bringing even more attention to the program.


	14. Genesis

**CKFN:** Launch Day, one week later

* * *

The massive door of the VAB slowly ground open. Despite not having been used in several months, it rose without complaint, and the fading daylight shone onto _Caelus I_ , completed at last. There had been some renovations since then; the Space Facility was starting to become a major transport hub. No longer were trucks sufficient to carry the rocket parts and fuel from where they were manufactured, but rather newly-built aircraft had been pressed into service; some designs could carry ten times as much and travel twenty times as fast when compared to their wheeled rivals. As such, the Space Facility looked more like an Air Facility, with all the runways and service equipment. However, even with the fancy new additions, the VAB remained untouched, which the engineers grumbled about daily. The rockets they we rebuilding were starting to reach the facility's size constraints, and the fabrication equipment on hand was beginning to become inadequate for the adding onto the existing buildings wouldn't solve all Danford's problems though; as the mission planners whined about how far north they were. The USKK's Space Centre was located directly on the equator, meaning landing back at the Centre was a breeze, and missions to locations beyond LKO required no extra delta-v expenditure, unlike the CKFN's situation. Danford put all that out of his mind though, and focused more upon the issues facing him today.

Much to the media's disappointment, Danford had made the decision to launch this rocket without kerbals on board. The engineers had said that more work was needed to be certain that the life support systems were stable. _Caelus_ was sporadically exhibiting a glitch which had resulted in the premature retirement of half a dozen crash test dummies during testing. Since fixing that issue would take at least an additional week, Danford had elected to launch this vessel unkerballed. The engineers still struggled to build probes which lasted long outside the atmosphere, however. While probe shielding had progressed far enough to not fizzle out as soon as it left the atmosphere, the engineers had now hit a power supply issue. The multiple redundant systems and fail safes made the probe stable, but chewed through power at a disturbing rate. Since the spacecraft had no way of recharging its onboard batteries once it had left the launchpad, it would promptly shut down approximately two hours after launch.

Due to this, _Caelus I_ 's mission was simple: launch into a highly eccentric orbit, gather data on the deep space environment, then re-enter at high speeds. Ground control would stay in contact with the spacecraft for most of the way until apoapsis, at which time the onboard batteries would run dry, cutting off contact. While some other managers would declare the mission over at this point, Danford's crazy idea was to place the spacecraft on a specific trajectory, then properly orient it so that the ship wouldn't burn up in the atmosphere and survive to a soft landing somewhere in the CKFN. This would provide a lot of excellent extra data about the hazards and phenomena of deep space, and whether the heat shield was sufficiently tough enough to survive a high-speed re-entry. If the CKFN ever hoped to reach the Mun, the engineers needed a lot more data on both of these hazards.

Danford spoke into his headset. "Alright people, we're at tee minus one hour to launch. Get _Caelus_ onto the pad and fueled up!"

One hour later

The ground crew performed their duties flawlessly, and _Caelus I_ blasted off right on schedule.

"We're getting good readings from the rocket, everything is nominal," one of the Ground Control techs said. Really, with the amount of test-fires and simulations, this rocket was incredibly reliable. Danford would have bet good money on it reaching orbit without a single mishap (and apparently some engineers had been trolling the local bars, doing exactly that)

This was the CKFN's first rocket with more than one engine on the lower stage. As _Caelus_ was found to be too heavy for a single LV-T30 to lift, the decision was made to launch the capsule with two engines, rather than follow the USKK's SRB path. While this extra engine took a bit more work to engineer into the design, its performance more than made up for it. _Caelus I_ flew easily.

However, that extra engine did use up more fuel, and the rocket found itself dropping its lower stage earlier than ships with lighter payloads. There was talk about extending this lower stage, but the rocket's TWR was perfect with this amount of weight, and nobody wanted to screw that up.

The decision had been made to hold off on extending the tank until this mission had flown. So far, the results were promising, as the upper stage carried _Caelus_ above the clouds easily.

Finally, that stage burned out as well, and the time came for _Caelus_ to separate from its lifter. The Ground Control team waited with baited breath as they sent the command; while _Caelus_ had performed well on the ground, its engines had never before been used on an actual rocket. Anything could happen.

Fortunately, that anything was that the engines fired a short burst to move it away from the upper stage, then shut down to coast to apoapsis. The sigh of relief which ran through the control room was quite audible.

Based on the telemetry data, _Caelus_ had left the atmosphere and arrived at apoapsis.

While conventional kerballed missions only require a short burst from the spacecraft's engines to put it into a stable orbit, this mission was neither conventional nor kerballed, so the throttle was increased to full, and the spacecraft raised its orbit to roughly 1 000 kilometres above the surface of Kerbin.

After the spacecraft had confirmed that the burn was complete, the job of Ground Control was to settle in and wait for the ship to arrive. 

* * *

A few hours and several thousand kilometres later...

* * *

When _Caelus_ reached apoapsis, Danford wasn't even in the control room, as another urgent matter had come up. His presence wasn't required though; the job he had given the technicians was simple: gather the data _Caelus_ collected, make sure it wouldn't hit the ocean nor the USKK when it came down, then orient it retrograde. Hardly even rocket science.

And so the spacecraft responded to their commands, first transmitting the data from the scientific instruments its capsules were filled with, then pointing along a specific vector, and using the last of its fuel in a course correction which would put it in the middle of the CKFN. Finally, it rotated so that the heat shield would impact the atmosphere before the comparatively more fragile command pods.

Finally, the techs sat back and watched as the onboard battery, taxed by the transmissions and commands, finally gave up the ghost and died. All contact with _Caelus_ had been lost. Now, all they could do was wait.

A recovery helicopter flew through the night. Danford was aboard, along with a full team of technicians. According to telemetry data, _Caelus_ had reentered the atmosphere less than ten minutes ago.

"Pilot! Do you have the capsule on your radar?"

"Y-yessir , we're heading right towards it!"

"Are you sure? We just ended up chasing a flock of pigeons for longer than I care to admit."

"N-no sir, I'm sure it's the capsule...I've locked onto its transponder signal." Hepointed at the screen, showing a steadily falling dot. Just as Danford looked over at the display, the dot chose that moment to disappear.

"Mother of Harv…" Danford lowered his sunglasses. (nobody except this guy knew why he was wearing them at night) "We have to get there. Now."

"Roger that, sir. We're not more than two kilometres out." 

* * *

The helicopter came to a gentle landing, perching on the on the ground like a large, oddly-shaped bird. Danford immediately leaped out, fearing the worst. Climbing towards the capsule, he let out a gasp. _Caelus_ sat in the middle of a blackened crater in the ground. The capsule itself had been breached; it's internal components lay everywhere. Taking a closer look, Danford wasn't surprised that they'd lost contact; most of the instruments had been wrecked by the impact.

"It's a pity," one of the technicians remarked, drawing level with Danford. "We could have pulled so much more data if the thing actually landed in one piece."

"Don't give up yet, the instruments have already transmitted their data, so you can access that, plus I'm sure you want to see how the materials of the spacecraft reacted to the deep space environment," Danford reassured him.

"That's true. But why did it crash like that? I thought the plan was to soft-land it."

"A very good question. See if you can find the other two parachutes. I only see one that opened, but _Caelus_ had three."

"Three? The ship that launched only had one."

"What? How did we expect to soft-land it then?" Danford exclaimed.

"Somebody said that we'd get more delta-v out of the thing if we left off the side-mounted parachutes, and instead just slowed the capsule at the last second with the engines."

"Didn't they realize that the ship would be uncontrollable by then? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I don't know sir, all I know was that's how it happened."

Danford sighed."I suppose we can't do anything about that problem now. Though I'll have avery serious talk to the engineers when we get back. Let's work on salvagingwhat we can of the ship."

And indeed, after gathering the parts together and analyzing the data, the mission was declared to be a success. Improvements were immediately made to _Caelus_ to take into account the deep-space environment and the extra parachutes were reattached, as extra insurance when landing. On top of all that, the engineers got an excellent lesson on communication, via a three-hour rant delivered by Danford describing the many horrible things that would happen if they deviated from the design specifications again without letting him know. All in all, the CKFN space program was in good shape.

Now they just had to do it all over again, this time with kerbals onboard.


	15. Research & Development

**USKK:** Two days later

* * *

Bill walked into Jebediah's plush, wood-trimmed office and sat down with Bob in front of Jeb'sdesk. Once again, they were to discuss the state of the USKK space the intel given to him by the USKK government, he started the meeting off.

"So, it finally happened. The CKFN launched _Caelus_."

Of course, this was hardly top-secret information. Anyone with a halfway decent antenna could pickup the television signals coming from across the water. Really, the declassification of the CKFN's space program had accomplished more for the covert operations department of the USKK than ten years' worth of surveillance.

"Who did they send up?" asked Jebediah, who, like always, had not read the intel ahead of time. As such, he wasted everyone's time asking questions they _ought_ to have known from the start. Bill sighed.

"As the report stated, this mission was an unkerballed launch. Apparently due to the untested nature of the capsule and new launcher, the risk was considered too high to launch a kerbal."

Bob spoke up."It's a good thing they waited; it gives us more time to launch more ships. We had a mission planned for next week, right?"

"Absolutely,"said Jeb. "The rocket is built, and the capsule is nearly ready! I'd say another three or four days of hard work, and we can launch _Uranus II_."

"Are you sure that we're ready to launch so soon after _Uranus I_?" Bill cautioned, always the voice of reason. _Somebody_ had to be.

"Of course! Danbro decided to scale back the SRB thrust, we've flipped the capsule interior around, provided extra cushions for the pilots, what else is needed?"

"I just feel like we aren't giving the engineers enough time to perfect their 're already overworked as it is; we demand new rockets every few weeks."

At this, Bob jumped in. "Nonsense, I was just down in the VAB and they're really starting to hit their stride. Since we always ask for the same rocket, they simply build a bunch of copies of the _Uranus_ launcher,then tweak the SRB thrust for the desired payload,"

" idea was this?" Bill asked.

"Doodbro's. Apparently he's quite the talented engineer. Excellent selection, Jeb."

For his credit, Jebediah did not display any external signs of uncertainty. However, Bill had known the kerbal for nearly twenty years now, and by watching Jeb's face carefully, he understood that Jeb was just as surprised as Bill was about Doodbro's competence. As Bill had correctly assumed when first watching the footage of Doodbro's promotion, Jeb had just used the 'engineering assistant' story to confuse the Board, and make sure that the VAB would continue building rockets unabated, unlike the ghost town it would become if Danbro were to be fired.

"That's why I chose him," Jeb said with a smile.

Bob, who hadn't been with Jeb for as long, appeared satisfied with that explanation. Turning his attention away from Jeb, Bob continued.

"Now, the CFKN launched their unmanned version of _Caelus_ (or simply _Caelus I_ ) exactly forty-six hours ago. While the USKK still leads in terms of total launches, our first next-gen spacecraft was a high-profile failure. While the mission itself completed successfully, we had an injured kerbal, an internal investigation slowing things down, and the media reporting every story to come out of here that they can find!"

At this, he pulled out a newspaper clipping from his pocket and slid it across the table. Bill unfolded it. "'Space Centre Cafeteria Serves Subpar Snacks'? Really?"

"Really. All of these factors combined means that the public is no longer quite as enthusiastic about the space program as before. Reduced public enthusiasm then means that the Board is unwilling to provide as many funds for the program in the such, we need to build public approval for the program again, and show the CKFN that we are better."

"And how are we going to do that?" asked Bill. This nationalistic space race satisfied the media, but he found that constantly trying to one-up your neighbour often distracted one's self from focusing on the project at hand and why you were even trying to accomplish it in the first place.

"I may have a couple ideas," said Jeb slowly. He picked up his desk phone."Werhner, can you meet us in my office? What? No, you're- Yes, I- Okay,thanks. Yes. I said, yes! … Just come on over here,"

A couple minutes later, Werhner Von Kerman walked through the door. "Hellooo!"

"Ah Werhner, you've arrived! Excellent. Now, can you tell Bill and Bob about the new technology you're developing?"

"Ah, of course!Vell, you see, eet all started back vhen I first vatched ze CKFN broadcast. Zey discussed ze issue of power management in ze spacecraft. Zheir ships use batteries to stay acteeve. Now, batteries are very heavy, so I vas thinking ve could generate our power in space, rather zan having to worry about carrying enough to last all ze way through our mission."

"Generate power in space? You don't mean lugging a coal plant (or bac9 forbid, an atomic plant)up there?" Bill was incredulous. "You realize that you'd have to bring a supply of oxygen for the coal to even burn, right?"

"Yes, yes, I know. Ze standart methods of generation do not work vell in space. Besides, our rockets aren't powerful eenough yet!"

"…yet?"

"Er…I've been vorking on some ozzer designs; I can show-"

"Let's keep on track Werhner," Jeb interrupted.

"Right, sorry! Vell, as I vas saying, ve don't have ze capacity to generate a lot of power een space. Fortunately, ve don't need a lot of energy; ve just need to sustain eet for long periods of time. So I thought to myself, vhat on Kerbeen generates a good amount of power, ees reliable, yet light, and vould vork in space?"

Bill wasn't quite sure if it was a rhetorical question or not; Werhner's accent made it difficult to fully understand the kerbal's meaning. Fortunately, Werhner answered it himself, saving Bill from having to think up an entirely new method of power generation.

"Solar power! Ze sun alvays shines in space, and zhere is no clouds to block zem! Eet ees ein perfect system!"

Now that Bill thought about it, solar power _would_ be a very useful method of generating power while in orbit. Panels were relatively light, cheap, yet could still provide enough power to control a probe core, or even a spacecraft's attitude control systems. Bob didn't seem completely convinced though.

"Do you have a model we can attach to a spacecraft? All the solar panels I've seen in my time are much too large to fit on _Uranus_."

"Ah yes! I do,een fact! I've been vorking on a folding panel vhich vould easily fit on ze side of ze spacecraft. And Bill, your idea of atomic energy ees close to vhat I have planned for my next deesign!"

"Good Squad,you're not actually going to launch a reactor?"

"Noo, nooo, I vill use ze radioacteeve decay of certain elements to run a heat engine,generating steady power even vhen the sun ees behind ze planet!"

Well. That certainly was a much better idea. Bill was impressed; he knew the stories of how smart Werhner was (he'd single-handedly launched Kerbin into this rush for space),but seeing his ideas firsthand was incredible. The kerbal certainly knew his stuff.

"So what do you guys think?" asked Jeb, who had clearly heard these ideas before.

"I can't think of anything wrong with having power generation capabilities onboard our next spacecraft; go ahead and install them on _Uranus II_ ," said Bob, who looked impressed with Werhner as well.

Finally, all three kerbals looked at Bill, waiting for him to speak. He still wasn't completely satisfied with the pace at which they were proceeding, but this new technology heartened him. Perhaps the ships could stay in space for longer, and do more research on the effects of space travel on a kerbal.


	16. The Eagle Has Landed

**CKFN:** Launch Day, _Caelus II,_ six weeks later.

* * *

"Well, at least they added magazines," commented Matdun dryly. Bilvin looked up. Along with the other kerbal, she was sitting in the small white room again, one step removed from finally entering her spacecraft after weeks of preparing for this misison.

Unfortunately, Matdun's words did not satisfy her. "They're all fifteen-year-old technical manuals on the finer points of spacecraft orientation! We didn't even _have_ spacecraft back then! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of rocket science as much as the next kerbal, but seven hundred pages of spin rates and matrix transformations is not my idea of light reading material. When I get my hands on Danford…"

"You had better wait until after the launch. I don't think he's been sleeping these last few days. He really wants this mission to go well."

"Well, it can't go any worse than the _Uranus I_ , eh?"

Matdun's unamused glare reminded Bilvin that there were indeed some lines that one Should Not Cross.

"At least the kerbal was alright, but apparently he's left the USKK's space program."

"He's left? That leaves them with only three kerbals. Are they going to hire more?"

"Apparently they already have. Just before _Uranus III_ launched, they brought four new recruits into the program. It was glossed over at the time, given what happened during that flight, but I managed to find an article." Matdun pulled a newspaper from a pocket in her flight suit and unfolded it. (Bilvin made a mental note to remember to pack a novel or something for next time) "Let's see…blah blah, fast-paced training, recruitment from several civilian rocketry clubs, oh! They've got pictures."

Desperate for some form of reading material that didn't involve endless lines of text, Bilvin leaped out of her chair.

"Hm, they look pretty competent. But I can't imagine that they have the same experience as us veteran kerbonauts, eh?"

"I wouldn't call us veterans yet. This is only your second mission. The USKK definitely has the advantage in their rapid launch cycles."

"Well, we make up for it for all our simulations. I'm so used to that simulator now, I even found a place to store my snacks!"

Matdun stared. "That was you?! Do you know how many simulations I've had to abort because wrappers kept falling out of the overhead compartments?"

"Uh, two?"

"Eleven! How many snacks did you stuff in there? I told Danford to confiscate them all."

"Oh come on, don't be a narc; don't you ever get hungry during a long simulator session?"

Matdun's angry retort was cut short by Danford's disembodied voice. _"How's it going in there, you two? The rocket's nearly ready."_

"Uh, we had a slight disagreement, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"

 _"I hope Dilbrett came through with the reading material; I told him to put his favourite magazines in there."_

"Yep…they're real page turners…" Bilvin responded while eying the massive books laying on the table.

"Anyways, what's the status on the rocket? ETA until boarding?" Matdun asked, matter-of-factly.

 _"We're just fueling it up now, so you should be able to board in about ten minutes."_

"Roger that. We'll be ready." She turned off her microphone, then glared at Bilvin.

* * *

"Alright people, sound off. We've got a tight launch window. There's a storm moving in from the northwest, and I don't want to test the structural integrity of _Caelus_ that rigorously just yet." Danford strode through Mission Control, or at least what passed for it. There were a bunch of employee stations set up underneath the little antenna at the Space Facility.

"Communications, go"

"CAPCOM, go"

"Spacecraft systems, go"

And so on, until the moment they'd all been waiting for.

"Five seconds until liftoff!"

"Four"

"Three"

"Two, main engine start!"

"One"

A low rumble engulfed the small room. Even though they'd been doing this for a couple of years now, some techs still didn't make sure their coffee mugs were secure, and some fell over the edges of tables, soaking laps with lukewarm caffeinated beverage.

Even though they had a perfect view of the rocket on the monitors, Danford preferred to look out of the window. He'd found that if he stood in a certain spot, he had an excellent view of the launchpad _, and_ it made him look like he was standing where he could see all the techs and monitor their progress. _Caelus II_ stood upon a column of smoke and steam as it reached for the heavens, a bright orange tongue of flame underneath. The sight always gave him pause. The fact that his group built that magnificent machine to travel beyond the clutches of Kerbin itself was remarkable. He was shortly brought back to reality by the chatter of ground control.

"Rocket has cleared the tower, we're reading perfect separation."

"Attitude holding steady, engines are performing nominally."

"Gee levels holding steady at 1.5 _g_ "

"We're hitting max Q in twenty seconds, be advised."

"Begin rollover program"

"I'm getting an anomalous reading from one of the thermometers. Capsule, please confirm."

 _"That's a negative, Thermo Sensor 2-1-b is reading normally. I will keep an eye on it, though."_ Matdun responded.

"We've reached 10 km, begin gravity turn. Pitch over by 35 degrees, acknowledge."

Bilvin's cheery voice came through. _"Roger that, boss!"_

"Thrust curves looking nominal. Throttle down a touch to avoid losing too much delta-v to the atmosphere."

"15 km altitude, pitch down another 20 degrees."

"First stage nearing burnout, prep decoupler."

 _"Decoupler primed."_ Matdun was as businesslike as ever.

"I'm reading a loss of thrust caused by burnout. Fire second stage."

 _"First stage away, and second stage engine ignited on schedule"_

"Ignition confirmed. Throttle main engine up, you've cleared the worst of the atmosphere."

* * *

Danford leaned back. Another flawless launch. While plenty could still go wrong, he felt a little better knowing that the rocket had made it to orbit. Now, the main mission could begin.

* * *

 _"Hey, Matdun,"_ came the chirpy voice over the intercom. Matdun did not respond right away, knowing what was coming.

 _"Matdun"_

 _"Maaaatdun"_

She could take it no longer. "WHAT?"

 _"Got any snacks?"_

"Yes, I somehow managed to visit a store on Kerbin, buy some snacks, haul them all the way up here, and not tell you about it in the _five minutes_ since you last asked!"

 _"So you_ do _have snacks!"_

In disgust, Matdun turned off the internal intercom. She normally tolerated Bilvin and her antics, but today's mission was eating into her stores of patience. This capsule would be farther from Kerbin than any kerbal from the CKFN had ever been. Of course, they weren't breaking any records here _. Uranus II_ had already achieved an apoapsis of can change this3 000 kilometres, something _Caelus_ couldn't even dare try for. Rather, the goal for this mission was to maintain a stable orbit at this altitude and test the shielding and equipment outside the safety of Low Kerbin Orbit.

She was glad that the kerbals had separate capsules, a holdover from the spacecraft _Caelus_ was a derived from. Otherwise Bilvin may have found herself undergoing an Extra-Vehicular Activity, sans spacesuit.

Otherwise, things had been going well, but the mission was not over yet, and they still had to return. Reentry from these heights was no joke, while certainly less intense than a Munar return would be, it still could mean certain doom for those in the capsule if they didn't manage it correctly. Still, the view was nice. Matdun snapped a couple of pictures of the disk of Kerbin. Those Flat-Kerbin Society nitwits should be up here; the evidence against their case was pretty damning.

The radio crackled into life. _"Matdun, we're coming back into radio communication. How are the readings looking?"_

"They're all looking nominal; the engineers did good work when building the capsule. We're getting excellent data from the scientific experiments as well."

" _Fantastic. If we continue getting results as good as this, we should be able to bring you back down after a couple more orbits. "_

"Excellent. Any further orders?"

" _Actually, there was. Bilvin was asking if you could inspect the upper right-side compartment."_

"For the last time! There are no snacks on my side of the spacecraft!"

She slammed her fist down on the 'off' button violently, accidently jarring open the compartment mentioned.

Matdun sighed as a contingent of snacks floated by her face, ejected from their home in the compartment.

* * *

 _"Hey Matdun"_

"What _now_?" She replied through gritted teeth. The fires of reentry were increasing, a dull roar reverberating through the capsule. Bilvin had been mostly silent up to the deorbit burn, but then she had begun pestering Matdun once again. It was Matdun's job to guide the capsule into a safe landing on the Space Facility's grounds, and she didn't want to screw it up. This was the first time any capsule had attempted such a pin-point landing,

 _"Remember how the first_ Caelus _capsule landed? Don't do that"_

"Shut…up…" The capsule hit a pocket of turbulence, starting to spin. Matdun hit the SAS override and corrected this spin. Only 30 000 metres to go…

The spin was back, Matdun's efforts weren't enough to arrest it entirely. Bilvin's voice chirped through the internal intercom.

 _"Hey, I can see my house from here!"_

How the kerbal remained so calm was a mystery to Matdun, who would have been screaming in terror if not for the concentration required to keep the rapidly descending craft on target. The plan was to make a soft landing on the rocket engines back at the Space Facility, and this high in the atmosphere, even small changes to their attitude would result in missing the landing site by many kilometres. She didn't want a repeat of _Laytona I_ , which Bilvin nearly smashed open on a mountainside.

"Bilvin, tell me our current trajectory."

Incredibly, the other kerbal sounded almost bored while reading back the numbers. Matdun made a mental note to ask Danford to send Bilvin on the next long-duration science mission. Preferably past Minmus. Maybe to another planet. Perhaps the Sun? This thought cheered her.

WHUMP. That was a big shock. Reentry was tricky, the smallest pockets of turbulence became huge problems when travelling at twice the speed of sound. She checked the readouts, trying to discern if any damage had been done to the spacecraft. She couldn't see anything, and by the sounds of it, the ship was beginning to enter the lower atmosphere.

Bilvin's voice, _finally_ sounding a bit perturbed, came through the intercom. _"Uh, I've got a bit of a problem here"_

"What's wrong?"

 _"I'm getting a 'system failure' warning light. It looks like one of our thrusters is acting up."_

"Roger, prepping parachutes for deployment."

 _"Ah, that's a negative, the auxiliary parachutes have been put out of commission as well. We've only got the ventral chute remaining."_

"Oh."

 _"Remember what I was saying about the first_ Caelus _?"_

"Yes, we all know how that turned out." Though her voice projected annoyance, Matdun was actually terrified. Nobody had anticipated both a parachute _and_ engine failure. She'd trained for hours in landing on rockets and landing on parachutes (the latter was infinitely easier, by the way), but had never even considered having to land without either. She wondered if they could bail out of the spacecraft right before impact and hope the shockwave would slow them down.

 _"Can you transfer full attitude control to me? I have an idea."_ Bilvin's voice sounded more determined than ever.

"What? There's no way you can operate both systems at once!"

 _"Trust me."_

Under most circumstances, Matdun would certainly have not trusted the young kerbal, and just done the landing herself. However, in this case she didn't feel confident enough to trust herself not to botch the landing. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? They were dead anyway.

"Transferring control. Don't screw this up, Bilvin"

Matdun could just picture the cocky grin the kerbal gave her in response. _"What, me? Never."_

With the controls in Bilvin's pod, Matdun now had nothing to do. She now understood the other kerbal's restlessness earlier. With no control of this falling metal pod, one did tend to want to make sure everything went well. A sort of 'backseat piloting' if you will. The only thing left to do was watch the altimeter.

At 700 metres above the ground, Bilvin deployed the parachute. Matdun watched it trail out behind the capsule, flutter in the wind, then finally deploy fully. This slowed the capsule down to about 15 metres per second, still too fast for a safe landing. Matdun suspected that the core command pods would survive such an impact, but she certainly did not want to put that suspicion to the test.

250 metres up, the engines fired up. Three of them at least. The fourth, as predicted, sputtered once and with a sad *ka-putt*, died. _What is Bilvin doing? She's obviously trying to use both the parachutes and the engines? What is Bilvin's plan?_

Then, a horrible screech met Matdun's ears. She realized it was the reaction wheels. They were spinning at grossly overclocked speeds, providing just enough torque to compensate for the missing engine. Obviously, one couldn't run the wheels at such speeds forever, and you'd need to replace them after attempting such a maneuver, but for this landing, they could be spun up much faster than the manufacturer's recommended speed.

Miraculously, the plan worked. Despite only having access to three asymmetrically-placed engines, Bilvin managed to navigate the ship into a landing, only skidding slightly upon touchdown as a reaction wheel failed at the last second.

Matdun let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, then peered through the small window on the capsule. The first sight she saw was Director Danford, wide-eyed and covered in feathers.

She immediately opened the intercom channel to Bilvin. "Just to be clear, we did land at the Space Facility, and not some sort of alternate dimension, correct?"

 _"…Yes, why do you-oh. Hi Director!"_

Matdun got to work on opening her capsule door, and exited the vehicle. It appeared that Bilvin's skidding maneuver during the last few seconds of flight had put the capsule much closer to the Facility's staff than originally planned. Hence, Danford's closeness to the spacecraft, and surprise. That didn't explain the feathers though.

However, closer inspection of _Caelus_ certainly did. Judging by the remains, the capsule had struck a very unlucky bird during its rapid descent through the atmosphere. That would certainly explain the _WHAM_ they'd heard earlier. Feathers were all over the capsule, and the impact point was right next to the failed engine, as well as the radial parachute control system. Upon closer inspection, its species appeared to be some type of balding eagle.

"Talk about a fowl landing!" Jenfrey punned, which elicited an icy glare from everyone within earshot.

This moment did not last long though, as the team of technicians immediately swarmed the spacecraft, taking pictures, examining impact points, and chattering among themselves. They barely left enough room for Bilvin and Matdun to get clear.

When the two kerbals had exited, Matdun turned to Bilvin. "Thanks for saving us. And…here."

She handed Bilvin the snacks which she'd discovered inside her side of the spacecraft.

Bilvin took them without comment. "No worries, it was the least I could do." Her eyes twinkled. "I look forward to flying with you again!"

Danford (now mostly feather-free) walked up. "Excellent mission, you two! I'm told that we got excellent data from this flight, despite the few quirks which developed. Get back to the simulators, because we've got more missions coming up!"

"Sorry boss, but I've got to take a shower and a nap first," Bilvin said. "But I'll be ready for launch in a couple of hours, don't you worry!"

Matdun estimated that her own nap would last a good deal longer than that, but nevertheless greeted Danford with a smile before heading back to her room. It had been a very long day.

* * *

Danford had never seen the weekly engineers' meeting so busy. His lead engineer, Dilbrett had 'accidentally' let slip what today's topic would be, and as such it seemed that every engineer in the space program was here. In fact, he didn't recognize many faces; did they even work for the space program?

Nevertheless, he took his seat at the head of the large conference table, Dilbrett on his right.

"Good morning all. Now, as I'm sure you've all heard, today's meeting is going to be a very special one."

The gathered kerbals all hung onto every word of his, some barely daring to breathe.

"We've launched test rockets, we've launched kerbals, we've seen what the conditions outside our atmosphere are like. These have all been steps towards our ultimate goal: the Mun."

At this word, the unKerbinly silence vanished, filled with a dull roar as every kerbal began talking with their neighbors about this news. Danford waited for the commotion to die down, but after a couple minutes the volume had actually increased. So he gently cleared his throat.

No one heard him.

"Ah _-hem_." He cleared it a little louder.

Again, no response, except perhaps the room got even noisier.

"Okay everyone, settle down, let's get this meeting started."

The room was beginning to descend into chaos, as it seemed that every kerbal there had their own opinion on how the mission should be carried out; some had even begun scribbling out trajectories and delta-v charts on chalkboards.

He was wondering if shouting at them would even make a dent in the noise, when Danford felt a tap on his arm. The words Dilbrett was speaking were inaudible against the din, but what he held in his hand was very clear.

Danford had grabbed it and raised it to his mouth before even wondering, _Why did Dilbrett bring a megaphone to the meeting?_

 **"THAT'S ENOUGH. ALL OF YOU, SIT DOWN."**

You could hear a pin drop. _That's better._

" **ALRIGHT, NOW THAT** -whoops." He was still speaking through the megaphone.

"Alright, now that we've discussed the target at length, let's start coming up with ideas for missions. I want to hear all of them-but please. One at a time."

* * *

Three hours later

* * *

Danford couldn't believe how many ideas there'd been, ranging from extensively-researched missions with every metre per second of delta-v catalogued along the way, to one kerbal's suggestion of getting a 'really, really big SRB'.

"So, I think we've narrowed it down to three mission ideas. There's the Direct Ascent route, the Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous, and the Munar Orbit Rendezvous. Let's hear the pros and cons of each, again."

A heavyset kerbal stood up, about halfway down the table. "For simplicity, you can't go wrong with Direct Ascent. Just one ship flies to the Mun, lands, then returns to Kerbin. No complicated 'docking' required! I don't even think rendezvousing two ships in space is even possible, for Harv's sake."

Dilbrett spoke up. "Have you _seen_ the size of the rocket which would have to lift that? It would be more than double the height of the VAB! Testing the first stage alone would take years."

"Alright then, how about your pet project? Let's hear it."

"As I mentioned, the Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous is a very flexible mission plan, which can retain most, if not all of the simplicity of the Direct Ascent method, yet still be launched aboard smaller, more reasonable rockets. We launch our Munar lander aboard one rocket, then launch the transfer stage immediately afterwards. These two ships link up in orbit, fly to the Mun, the lander flies down, does its stuff, then returns to Kerbin using the transfer stage!"

"We still haven't considered the Munar Orbit Rendezvous yet!" A bespectacled kerbal spoke up from the far end of the table. "We only have to launch one rocket, but the lander and command module are separate ships, allowing us to use a far lighter lander than your other versions! In fact, I've done the math and it comes out to use less fuel in total than either of those two mission plans."

"What about the size of that single rocket? While certainly not a Direct Ascent monstrosity, it's still larger than anything we have the capacity to build," Dilbrett countered.

"Keep It Simple, Stupid!" The first kerbal shot back, quite tactlessly. "Direct Ascent needs only one ship, and only one set of components too! Why on Kerbin would you need duplicate life-support systems on the lander?"

This went on for another two hours, and by the time they had decided on a result, Danford was exhausted.

"Is everyone done?"

A host of sullen glares from two-thirds of the those present was his answer.

"I think everyone's admitted it; Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous is the best option we have, based on the lifting technology available to us. Now, we need to figure out how to accomplish such a mission."

As the table burst into discussion once more, Danford smiled. They had just taken the first step into a larger world. They were going to the Mun, at long last.


	17. Trial and Error

**USKK  
** Six Months Later  
UNN News Van

* * *

 ****

Erdan Kerman, the finest newscaster in the USKK (at least in his studio's mind, but that's really all that matters), eyed a small, unkempt house.  
 **  
"** Are you sure this is the right place?" his camerakerbal, who was doubling as his driver, asked.  
 **  
"** This is it," Erdan looked at the piece of paper upon which the address of that tiny abode was scrawled. "Get the gear, we're going in."

* * *

 **"** First of all, I'd like to thank you for this interview, Desdin." Erdan said, as he settled into the chair he'd been provided. Most of his interviews were conducted in the comfort of Erdan's own studio, but Desdin Kerman had insisted on holding this one in his personal home. By the looks of the drawn blinds, clutter, and general dustiness, the former kerbonaut didn't look like he got many visitors. "With the upcoming launch of _Uranus X_ , it will be excellent to get your perspective on the space program. Not many kerbals have seen the inside of the program like yourself!"  
 **  
"** Yes," Desdin replied, staring downwards at his hands. "I think it's finally time to get this off my chest."  
 **  
**Erdan pressed on. "You've certainly been through a lot in the past few months, haven't you? What with being selected as one of the USKK's newest kerbonauts, launching on the ill-fated _Uranus VIII_ mission, and that daring feat of courage you pulled off! I guess my first question is, why aren't you still with the space program?"  
 **  
**Desdin laughed ruefully, a faraway look in his eyes. Erdan was not exactly sure how to respond, so he took advantage of this awkward moment to make sure the camerakerbal had the two framed correctly. Eventually, Desdin did speak.  
 **  
"'** Feat of courage'. Really? Is that what they're calling it?"  
 **  
**Now Erdan was doubly confused. "Are you implying that actual events went differently?"  
 **  
"** I'm sure you are aware of the space program's… 'kerbal' policy." Desdin positively spat the word.  
 **  
"** Policy? That's just a word the public uses to describe missions which undergo minor mishaps. I don't see how—"  
 **  
**Still avoiding direct eye contact, Desdin cut him off. "It may not be official, but what if I told you that the failures are deliberately encouraged, just to make missions more exciting?" **  
"** I'd have to say I'd have trouble believing you. Does this really happen in the program?"  
 **  
"** Oh, Mr. Erdon, it doesn't just happen, but is encouraged by the highest levels of the program themselves."  
 **  
"** It's Er _dan_ ," the reporter corrected, "and really? Jebediah himself signed off on deliberately sabotaging the missions?" **  
**  
"Sabotage? Oh no. The rockets are never deliberately tampered with, but checks for mistakes made during construction are lacklustre, leading to the errors we're accustomed to seeing during the missions." **  
**  
Erdan sat back. This certainly didn't sound like the space program he'd been reporting on for the past couple of years. He was tempted to dismiss Desdin's claims as mere fear mongering. But could the kerbal really be telling the truth? He _was_ a former kerbonaut after all. Besides, this sounded like the beginnings of a fantastic story. **  
**  
"Okay," he said. "So how does this 'policy' work? Is this connected to your departure from the space program?" **  
**  
"In time, Erdin, in time. First, let me share with you its very beginning. I'm sure you're familiar with _Uranus III_..." 

* * *

Five months ago  
 _Uranus III_ , 400 km above Kerbin

* * *

 **"** Approaching MECO, all systems nominal."  
 **  
**  
 **  
"** Roger that Control, shutting down engine." Donnand Kerman spoke, as he pressed a button on the lower left side of his control panel. **  
** _  
Uranus III_ 's orbital operations motor slowly throttled down, leaving the spacecraft in a comfortable medium Kerbin orbit. While certainly not approaching the height the CKFN had achieved with their unkerballed _Caelus I_ , it still was impressive. You could definitely see a lot more of Kerbin from up here.

 **"** Oooh, we're passing over the USKK! Let me get the camera out!" Rondred's voice floated up from below Don. The Uranus program had improved upon its first iteration, and now both kerbals were pointed 'up', to avoid injuries like poor Jorfred. _Uranus II_ had been the first flight to fly with the updated design, and based on feedback from that mission, the engineers had placed a hole in between the capsules to allow the pilots to talk to each other without requiring an intercom. **  
**  
Another new feature of this mission was a television camera, which Ron was currently trying to focus on Kerbin. The news stations back on the ground wanted live footage from orbit, so they lobbied to get a camera onto the spacecraft. The space program, eager to increase its public image in the wake of the _Uranus I_ incident, happily complied. **  
**  
**  
**  
"Hey, get some shots of me too!" Don called down to the other kerbal, though he didn't really mind if all the footage taken during the flight were just of Kerbin. The kerbals back on the ground absolutely loved getting shots of the planet, and being this far up, one could very easily see the curvature of the planet. It was just so pretty… **  
**  
The harsh crackle of the radio awoke Don from his reverie. _"_ Uranus III _, this is Mission Control. Do you copy?"_ **  
**  
"Roger that, Control. What are things looking like from down there, Gene?" **  
**  
"Just fine, Don. All systems are looking nominal. Speaking of which, it's time to activate the reason you're up there. Prepare to deploy the solar panels!" **  
**  
This was the moment Donnand had been waiting for. Previous missions had been limited by the amount of power they could carry into orbit, bringing them back too quickly to do extended scientific studies or detailed analyses of how the spacecraft responded to being in orbit. These new solar panels would mean that the life support and heaters could stay on for longer, extending their time in space to many hours, and theoretically many days. Though Don would prefer to perhaps get a larger capsule, if they were planning to stay up here for that long. **  
**  
"Stow the camera, Ron. It's time for the big show!" The other kerbal knew just as well how big of a moment this was, and forgot to put away the camera in his excitement, leaving it floating around the capsule, still broadcasting. "Yep, the panels are ready to go!" **  
**  
"Control, keep an eye on those power readings, we are ready to deploy the panels." **  
** _  
"Roger that, you are clear to begin."_ **  
**  
"You hear that, Ron? Activate!" **  
**  
Ron pushed the deployment button (which sadly was neither Big nor Red), and Don watched the readings. Ten seconds went by, then thirty, and then a full minute, while the battery banks were still showing the same passive draw in energy that was characteristic of the default power setup of Uranus. After two minutes had passed, Don radioed Control. **  
**  
"Gene, I'm not seeing an increase in power. Are you guys receiving any data?" **  
** _  
"Strange, we registered the 'deploy panels' command, but the batteries aren't charging. Can you get visual confirmation?"_ **  
**  
Don peeked out the window, and spotted nothing but stars.

 ****  
"That's a negative, Control. The panels are not deployed. Repeat, we have a negative on that deployment." **  
** _  
"Okay. This is a problem. You only have enough power for one more orbit at that altitude; we'll have to bring you back down soon if we don't get those panels fixed."_ **  
**  
Before Don could reply, he noticed a screw floating past his face. Maneuvering in the tight confines of his capsule, he looked downward. Rondred had disassembled his control panel, and was busily inspecting various bits of wiring. **  
**  
"Uh, roger that Control, let me just...ah...get back to you in a second," he said, turning off the radio. "Ron, uh…what are you doing?" **  
**  
"I'm trying to fix these blasted panels! There's got to be a reason they won't deploy!" **  
**  
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Danbro wouldn't even let you _look_ at that panel when you visited the VAB last week." **  
**  
"Hey, I've been looking at it for the last two hours, and nothing bad has happened!" The navball came loose, and began orbiting Ron like a small moon. Don made a mental note to pocket it at some point. Ron continued.

"Besides, what's the worst that can happen? You've got all the controls in your pod, and Ground Control has access to all the data on this panel anyways." **  
**  
"Ah well, you've already taken it apart. What's your plan to fix these panels?" **  
**  
"Well, I was thinking that maybe a wire came loose or something, but the button feeds into the computer just fine… Hm, do you think it's a computer problem?" **  
**  
"Why?" **  
**  
"Well, where else could it be located?" **  
**  
"I don't know, Don. There's a lot of wire between the computer and the panels, the panels could have got stuck, or maybe the motors are burnt out? There's a bunch of places where something could go wrong!" **  
**  
"But there are two solar panels, and it's gotta be said, the chances of them both failing in the exact same way are pretty low." **  
**  
"Hmm. You know what, there _are_ two copies of allcomponents after the computer, from motors to wiring. Unless the engineers somehow installed two defective panels, the computer has to be it!" **  
**  
"Can you debug the thing?" Ron looked at his controls. "My panel is not…uh…set up for that right now." Indeed, the console now looked like some sort of wild animal had taken large bites out of it. **  
**  
"Sure, just don't break anything-," Don replied, watching the throttle control float past him. "-else." **  
**  
He quickly brought up the debug commands by pressing a pair of keys simultaneously on the top and bottom on his panel, and looked for anything strange in the output. He found it immediately. **  
**  
"Hey Ron, it looks like we've got a bunch of Null Reference Exceptions. They're filling the output log, and stopping the computer from responding to the solar panel subroutine!" **  
**  
"Log? Subroutine? Dammit Don, I'm a kerbonaut, not a computer scientist!" **  
**  
"Basically, the computer's clogged up because it's receiving a lot of errors from another system, so it can't execute our command to deploy the solar panels." **  
**  
"I knew it wasn't the panels!" **  
**  
"Alright, how to do this… Hm, it looks like our atmospheric trajectory computation module is outputting the errors. I think it has something to do with the atmospheric sensors reading zero, but it's trying to calculate our trajectory anyway. I'm going to try and rewire the system, but it could take a while." **  
**  
Donnand was no technical whiz, but after his and Ron's misadventure in Mission Control a year ago, he had been more interested in the technical aspects of the capsules. He was able to navigate the system without too much difficulty, and found the trajectories module, a small black box sitting underneath his control panel. **  
**  
"Ron, I've found the module! Can you pass me the needle nose pliers? I should be able to rewire it from here." **  
**  
At this moment, the lights in the capsule flickered, punctuated by a yell from below. **  
**  
"Ron? Are you alright?" **  
**  
"Ugh…yep, just touched a couple of wires I shouldn't have." **  
**  
"What the-! Our power levels just dropped three hundred percent! Romfarer's eye, what happened?" **  
**  
"I er, may have shorted one of the batteries… Well, former battery; it's more of a battery-shaped piece of plastic now." **  
**  
"We don't even have enough power to deorbit ourselves now; we need to get those panels fixed fast! Tell you what, I'll just take the module out entirely. It'll mean we're a few kilometres off with our landing, but that's no problem. We'd better hope that the panels aren't damaged…" **  
**Don gritted his teeth and cut the wires from the trajectories box leading into the main flight computer. Suddenly, a couple of red lights on his console turned green, signifying the computer was no longer overloaded. Don's worried face broke into a wide grin. It worked! **  
**  
"Okay Ron, press the button, we're running out of power fast here!" **  
**  
"Here goes!" **  
**  
Two simultaneous clunk-whirrs reverberated through the hull, and a few seconds later, the power levels began rapidly rising.

 ****  
"Yes! We did it! Power's back online!" **  
**  
The two kerbals shared a zero-gravity high-four through the small hole between the capsules.

 ****

* * *

**"** You didn't have to recap the entire mission." Erdan told Desdin. "I _did_ report on it after all." **  
**  
"So you know how popular the footage from Rondred's camera feed was with audiences back on Kerbin." **  
**  
"Of course," Erdan replied. "Audiences love that sort of dramatic tension. Two kerbals stranded in a dying spacecraft with time running out. It's like a movie! The fact that it was actually happening in real time only heightened the drama." **  
**  
"So you understand why the space program wouldn't be opposed to having that sort of thing happen more often." **  
**  
"So you're saying they just cut out safety entirely?" **  
**  
"No, not quite. But it became common practice to skip final checks, and cut corners during manufacturing." **  
**  
"Wait a minute. Wasn't that new engineer Jebediah brought into the program supposed to fix those problems? Are you saying that this didn't happen?" **  
**  
"Are you kidding? If anything the rockets are getting worse now that Doodbro is part of the program. Having another manager didn't fix anything, it just kept the program mired in bureaucracy and red tape. Different departments don't talk to  
each other, parts don't work together, it's chaos." **  
**  
Erdan didn't know what to say. **  
**  
"Of course," Desdin continued. "This all came to a head during _Uranus V_." **  
**

* * *

Three months later  
 _Uranus V_ , Low Kerbin Orbit

* * *

 ****

 _Uranus V_ floated in the dark. Its pilot, Sean Kerman, lay back and let out a sigh of relief. The rocket booster had just decoupled, and he was safely in orbit. Despite intensive training, nothing could have prepared himself for the ferocity of a rocket launch. He looked out the window nervously. Not only was he the only kerbal on this mission, this was his very first time in space. He couldn't get over how _big_ everything was, as well as that instant death lay literally seventeen millimetres away. **  
**  
To avoid dwelling on such unpleasant images, he turned his thoughts towards the mission. As a former reactor technician, he was the most qualified of all USKK kerbonauts for the task at hand. Wernher Von Kerman's prototype Radioisotope Thermal Generator was supposed to provide a steady trickle of power through harnessing the heat a sample of radioactive material gave off. Naturally, the technology had been thoroughly tested on the ground, but this was its first demonstration test in orbit. **  
**  
Sean was merely there to monitor the RTG and make sure nothing went wrong. So simple, even a probe could do it! He suspected that the only reason he was along for the ride was to boost the prestige of the space program, in ways an unkerballed spacecraft could not. **  
** ** _  
Click_**

 ** _Click_** **  
**  
The radiation counter mounted above his head made a bit of noise, then was silent. While there was more radiation up here than on the ground, the shielding of the capsule eliminated most of the nastier particles. Some still got through, but Sean had seen much worse. **  
**  
The radio crackled. _"How's the RTG looking, Sean?"_ **  
**  
"Current is nominal, Control. All systems are green." **  
** _  
"Roger that. Wernher will be happy."_ The ground controller stopped talking, but failed to sign off, presumably speaking to other members of Mission Control in the background. Sean waited for him to continue. _"The ballistics guys want you to  
fire your engine for a few seconds at periapsis; this will adjust your orbit to pass through Kerbin's radiation belts. They want to get a reading of the number of ionizing particles you can pick up, for a better idea of how the capsule shielding is holding up."_ **  
**  
"Roger that Control, let me know when and where to burn." As he turned off the radio, Sean grumbled to himself, "For Nova's sake, I _am_ just a probe." **  
**  
Still, it was a damn sight better than being stuck in an office down on Kerbin, the view was fantastic up here. **  
**  
 **  
**  
As the time came to make the burn, Sean gripped the controls, and began to turn the spacecraft, hearing the gentle ** _thrummmm_** of the reaction wheels spinning up. _Just like the simulations_ , he thought to himself. **  
** ** _  
Click click click_** **  
**  
The counter started making more noise. Sean looked up in confusion. He hadn't even made the burn; there's no way he could be in the radiation belts yet. Perhaps this was simply a more energetic region of space? He put the counter's increased activity out of his mind. **  
**  
He gingerly throttled up the main engine, feeling the ship vibrate around him, and the gentle roar of propellant leaving the spacecraft. The burn went off without a hitch, and he shut down the engine.

 **** ** _  
ClickclickcliCkClickClickclickcLIckclickClicKclickclickclick_** **  
**  
With the roar of the engine gone, the radiation counter's frantic complaining could be plainly heard. Eyes wide, Sean looked around the capsule in panic. The counter was registering more and more radiation by the second, and he had no idea what was causing it. **  
**  
This hazard was accompanied by another, more insidious problem. The lights in the capsule began to flicker, signifying a drop in power generation. **  
**  
In a flash, Sean realized the cause of these problems: the RTG. He quickly radioed the ground. **  
**  
"Control, I have an emergency here. The RTG is leaking material, repeat, the RTG is breached. Please advise." **  
** _  
"Roger that Sean, we're reading a power decrease in your ship, as well as increased radiation levels. Hang on, I need to advise with the Power team."_ **  
**  
A yellow light began pulsing, signifying a 'High Radiation' alert. **  
**  
"Control, I know what the problems are! I'm asking you, what should I do?" **  
**  
No response. Fuming, Sean thanked Nova that he'd trained well for this mission, then slid out a tray which contained a red button marked 'Abort'. Slamming his fist down on the button produced a small jolt which ran through the spacecraft.

 **** ** _  
Clickclickclick click click...click...click...click..._** **  
**  
Sean sighed in relief as the RTG floated away from him, its linkages to the spacecraft severed. Then his radio crackled again. **  
**  
"Yes, Control?" **  
** _  
"_ Uranus V _, this is Gene. We want you to...wait. What's your status? Our radiation sensors are back to normal."_ **  
**  
"Affirmative, Gene. I jettisoned the RTG module." **  
** _  
"What?_ V _, that means we've now got a piece of_ radioactive _space debris floating around! Why did you do that?"_ **  
**  
"I stand by my actions; the radiation would have reached critical levels in less than a minute had I not decoupled the module." **  
**  
For a long moment, Gene did not reply. Then he sighed heavily. _"Fine. Well, we got some good data, so begin your deorbit burn and return home."_ **  
**  
"Roger that Control." Sean said stiffly. **  
** _  
"And Sean? I'm glad you're alright."_ **  
**  
The kerbonaut's icy mood abated somewhat. "Thanks, Gene." At least one member of Mission Control cared.  
 **  
**

* * *

****

**"** That damaged RTG is still floating around Kerbin," Desdin explained. "It was later found that the vibrations from launch had shook apart the containment unit, and allowed the radioactive material to escape. Sean's maneuvers had The RTG was then considered too dangerous for rocketry, and shelved for the time being." **  
**  
Erdan paused before responding. "I'm not sure how this mission relates. Sure, audiences enjoyed Sean's reactions, but the entire incident was over in less than two minutes. Most kerbals missed it entirely." **  
**  
"That's not why I told you about it. My point was that Mission Control was increasingly distant and unconcerned by the kerbals' sacrifices and problems." **  
**  
"From what you told me about the lax safety standards, I imagine the increased number of incidents would wear on them after a while." **  
**  
"Exactly, Erdin. Eventually, the little problems became part of the mission, just like any old maneuver or systems check. Because it's not as if any error ever caused a mission failure now, did it?"Aside from the mispronunciation of his name  
(which he was starting to think was intentional by now), Erdan noticed that Desdin's right hand clenched into a fist as he spoke this last sentence. **  
**  
"But one did, didn't it?" he said carefully, knowing this would be a sensitive area for the former kerbonaut. " _Uranus VIII."_ **  
**  
Desdin said nothing. Erdan wondered if he'd pushed the kerbal too far. In fact, the entire reason he'd decided to do this interview was in order to get more details about that mysterious mission. **  
**  
After a full two minutes, Desdin finally looked into Erdan's eyes for the first time. Despite himself, the reporter shivered. Those eyes were like cold steel, hard and intense. **  
**  
Desdin spoke. " _Uranus VIII_. Yes. This is where my tale has been leading." **  
**  
"What happened?" **  
**  
"Hell. Erdun, it was hell."

* * *

Two months later  
 _Uranus VIII_ , 200 km above Kerbin

* * *

 **** **Beep...** **  
** **Beep...** **  
** **Beep...  
** **  
**Hand on the control stick, Desdin Kerman deftly guided his spacecraft towards his target.

 ****  
"Beginning final approach now," he spoke into his headset. **  
** **  
Beep...beep...beep...** **  
**  
The tracking monitor started to make more noise as his spacecraft got closer to the other. Desdin's mission was to rendezvous with a sister craft, the _Uranus VII_. This contained a functional Reaction Control System, which would be used to dock with Desdin's vessel. Concerned about weight, _Uranus VIII_ contained no such system, but rather had more fuel and enhanced reaction wheels, to assist with the approach maneuver. **  
**  
At the moment, he was following the directions of his tracking monitor and rangefinder. Each spacecraft had a small beacon constantly outputting a tiny radio signal, and by judging the strength of the other signal, a spacecraft could determine its distance to the other ship. **  
**  
This was conveyed to the pilot via an audio system, which beeped faster the closer you were to the other spacecraft. Right now, Desdin estimated _Uranus VII_ was about 300 metres away and rapidly closing. **  
** **  
BeepBeepBeepBeep—** **  
**  
Flicking off the rangefinder, he began firing the engine, killing his ship's relative velocity with respect to _Uranus VII_. He expertly adjusted the throttle to bring the two spacecraft motionless relative to one another.

 ****  
"This is _Uranus VIII_ reporting successful approach maneuver. My velocity with respect to _Uranus VII_ is now trivial," he spoke proudly into the radio. _Let's see Doodbert try to beat that!_ **  
**  
"Uranus VII _here, impressive maneuver, I'll admit. Though just watch as my docking breaks your speed record back on Kerbin!"_ **  
**  
Desdin and Doodbert had arrived from different branches of the USKK military, and as such had a natural rivalry from the start. Each tried to outdo the other in performance and speed during training and in the simulators. The competition certainly did not stop once they were put in charge of actual spacecraft. As it stood, Desdin held the record for fastest docking from the close approach position the two craft were presently in. Unfortunately, it looked like Doodbert was about to challenge that record now.

 **** _  
"_ VII _, this is Control. We advise you to take caution while approaching, this is the first real docking procedure we've tried in orbit."_ **  
** _  
"Relax, Control. I've done this hundreds of times in the simulator. Zero-gee just adds a bit of an extra challenge, that's all!"_ **  
**  
The hourglass-shaped _Uranus VII_ spun itself to be perpendicular with _VIII_ , and began moving in.

 ****  
"Bert, don't you think you're forgetting something?" **  
** _  
"What? I followed procedure to the…oh. Opening docking cover now."_ **  
**  
Unfortunately, as _Uranus VII_ continued to grow larger in Desdin's window, he could see that the docking port was still firmly covered. **  
**  
"Doodbert, open your port now!" **  
** _  
"I just did!"_ **  
**  
"Well, it's definitely not opened, so you need to—" **  
** **  
THUNK**

 **  
**  
"Dammit!" **  
**  
The two spacecraft spun around, Desdin bringing _VIII_ swiftly under control. **  
**  
"Control, we've got a problem." **  
**  
It was a sign of how often these sorts of things happened when Control responded with annoyance, rather than concern. **  
** _  
"*sigh* Copy that, VIII. Just fix it as quick as you can, everyone here is tired and wants to go home."_ **  
**  
"Roger, Control." **  
**  
As he unbuckled from his chair, Desdin imagined millions of kerbals eagerly watching their television screens at this mention of a problem. Ever since the illustrious fix of _Uranus III_ , all USKK spacecraft carried TV cameras to broadcast the  
kerbonauts' exploits to the entire country. The failures and subsequent solutions always boosted the public appeal of the space program, to the point where many vendors sold 'highlight reels' of the mishaps. Those kerbals who fixed the problems were always lauded as great heroes, so he looked forward to getting his hands on the problem. **  
**  
"Control, I am going EVA for a closer look at the problem." **  
** _  
"Hey! I can fix it from in here, there's no need to get outside!"_ **  
**  
Doodbert knew this fact as well, and evidently hoped that he could be the hero this mission, rather than Doodbert Kerman, idiot kerbonaut who jammed his docking port doors shut. But Desdin had the spacesuit, so Desdin would fix the problem. **  
**  
The spacesuits were a relatively old idea, but a new invention, brought on by necessity. The increasing rate of failures brought home the necessity of allowing a kerbal to inspect the exterior of his spacecraft and potentially make repairs.

The first-generation suits flew aboard _Uranus VI_ , and that vessel's crew had tested them during that mission. **  
**  
Based on their feedback, tweaks had been made to its design, and this suit was fully reinforced, provided an excellent amount of breathable air, and best of all, included a jetpack. Wernher Von Kerman was rather vague about the specifics, but he had mentioned that the suit ionized a small portion of the air inside and forced it out into space to provide propulsion. This provided exceptional exhaust velocities, though it did slowly use up the kerbal's supply of air over time. Also, the battery in the backpack could hold only so much charge to run the thing, so he would have to return to the spacecraft and recharge periodically. The power would definitely last long enough to take him the short distance to _Uranus VII_ , though. **  
**  
"Sorry Doodbert. You got the RCS, I got the spacesuit. See you outside!" **  
**  
Opening the hatch door, Desdin floated out into space. Activating the jetpack (officially it was known as the Kerballed Maneuvering Unit, or KMU, but everyone referred to it as a jetpack), he sped towards _Uranus VII_. While this technology was certainly fantastic, it didn't scale up very well, keeping spacecraft with extraordinary amounts of delta-v still out of reach. The thrust given by the thrusters was far too small to move much more than a kerbal around. **  
**As _Uranus VII_ fell away behind him, Desdin suddenly felt very small. The entire planet of Kerbin sat right below him, its clouds and cities merely two hundred kilometres away. Elsewhere, there was only darkness. The light from Kerbin and the sun completely washed out the faint stars, leaving Desdin alone in the cosmic darkness. Still, he had a jetpack. Touching the controls, he zipped towards _Uranus VIII_. **  
**  
"Hey Bert," Desdin knocked on the capsule's window. Visibly startled, Doodbert looked towards him in annoyance (and most likely jealousy).

 **** _  
"Just let me know what's wrong."_ **  
**  
Desdin flew up to the front of the spacecraft, and took a close look at the docking adaptor. It didn't take long before he located the source of the problem. **  
**  
"It looks like you've got a blown actuator." **  
** _  
"That's not so bad, just open the port manually, and I'll finish the docking."_ **  
**  
"Not the 'blown' I meant. Something actually exploded, totally trashing the docking mechanisms." With a cold chill, Desdin noticed that had the explosion been a little larger, the hatch seal would have been compromised, killing Doodbart  
instantly. He elected not to tell the other kerbal this.

 **** _  
"Blast. Control, what's your take on this?"_ **  
** _  
"It looks like docking is certainly possible and accurate in zero-gee, given by your attempt."_ **  
**Indeed, the dent from Doodbart's unsuccessful maneuver was perfectly centred on _Uranus VIII_ 's docking port. **  
** _  
"However, we don't want to risk any more damage to the spacecraft by docking with a non-functional port. You're coming back home early, boys."_ **  
** _  
"Aww…"_ **  
**  
Desdin was saddened too. He had wanted to be able to fix the capsule and save the mission. Ah well, at least he had a jetpack. To console himself, he did a couple of loop-de-loops around _Uranus VII_ (much to the annoyance of Doodbert). Upon returning to his spacecraft and repressurizing the cockpit, he opened up communications to the ground again. **  
**  
"It looks like we're coming up on the deorbit burn now, Control. Am I clear to begin the maneuver?" **  
** _  
"That's a negative,_ Uranus VIII _. We need you on station in the event anything else goes wrong with_ VII _."_ **  
**  
"Roger. Though we've already had our failure this mission, what could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

 **"** Wait, wait, wait. You said that? For real?" Erdan interrupted. **  
**  
The other kerbal was staring at the floor. It was a few seconds before he responded. Evidently, talking about the mission he was involved with took more effort to retell. **  
**  
"In hindsight, it does look like I tempted fate. You must understand, it certainly didn't feel that way at the time."

* * *

 ****Desdin glanced out the window. _Uranus VII_ 's retroburn completed successfully, and the other spacecraft flew away from his own. The radio crackled with Bert's voice. **  
** _  
"Maneuver completed, I'm on target for splashdown east of the space centre. See you planetside!"_

 **  
**  
"Bye, Bert. Control, I'm in position for my burn." **  
** _  
"Roger that, you may fire your engine when ready."_ **  
**  
Confidently, Desdin shoved the throttle forward. **  
** **  
CHOOM**

 **  
**  
The capsule began spinning as if kicked by an invisible giant. The stars outside his window formed blurs as they spun by. **  
**  
"Uh...Control, I've...ugh...had a problem." **  
**  
The centrifugal force from the spinning capsule made it difficult to speak into his headset. **  
** _  
"What now? We're less than fifteen minutes until the end of the mission, for Harv's sake."_ **  
**  
"I…I don't know. I'm currently...ugh...spinning very rapidly." **  
** _  
"Roger that, can your SAS not take care of the spin?"_ **  
**  
"That's a negative, it's telling me it's..." Desdin struggled to read his panel clearly. "...Kp overloaded?" **  
** _  
"Not good. We're going to have to boost your horizontal torque to compensate. Can you reroute power to the reaction wheels?"_ **  
**  
Desdin hadn't paid as much attention as he probably should have to the spacecraft orientation briefing, but he did remember how to do that. **  
**  
"Affirmative. Rerouting...now." **  
**  
After flicking the safety switch off, and dialing up the amount of power available to the reaction wheels, his spacecraft slowed its spin, and eventually stopped. Grateful for the relief, Desdin sat back for a second. Then he grabbed his control stick. Now he could figure out what had gone wrong. **  
**  
A cursory scan of the sky showed a strange piece of debris approximately 100 metres away from his ship. Upon closer inspection, Desdin opened a channel back to the ground. **  
**  
"Control, it appears that the decoupler triggered prematurely; the capsule is now the only remaining piece of the ship." **  
** _  
"What? By Nova, how did that happen?"_ **  
**  
"I don't know. I'm trying to figure that out now." **  
** _  
"Okay_ VIII _, we're going to help you out but for now we need to coordinate Doodbert's recovery. We'll re-establish contact in about twenty minutes. Until then, try to figure out exactly what went wrong."_ **  
**  
"…Roger." **  
**  
The radio went quiet, leaving Desdin in silence, save the tiny hiss of the life-support systems. All that remained between him and an icy death just centimetres beyond the capsule walls. In spite of himself, he shivered. He was utterly alone. **  
**After several minutes of fruitlessly checking gauges and readouts, Desdin faced the inevitable: he'd have to go outside. While functionally it was exactly identical to the EVA he had performed half an hour ago, this one felt much riskier. While he'd still be forever lost in space if his pack failed, having contact with Control and _Uranus VII_ had given him more of a sense of comfort. Now there was no one. **  
**  
As he exited his capsule, he nervously looked around for the second part of the spacecraft. He eventually found it, floating some 200 metres away from his capsule and getting further away. Pushing off from _Uranus VIII_ , he felt like he was leaving it behind forever. The arcjets ignited, and he sped towards the debris. **  
**  
All of a sudden, everything went black. Panicking, Desdin looked around, fearing that he'd suddenly gone blind, until he saw Kerbin's night side. The many cities down on the planet shone their lights into space, confirming that he had in fact not lost his sight, the sun had simply set, as evidenced by the rapidly fading glow on the horizon. Grimacing, Desdin fumbled around for the button to toggle his helmet lights on. **  
**  
Upon reaching the debris, Desdin grabbed hold and investigated it more closely. Everything appeared intact, with no obvious shorted cabling or exploded propellant tanks. Then, he noticed the decoupler. Several explosive bolts had triggered, decoupling the capsule from the rest of the spacecraft, exactly as it was designed to do. There must have been some sort of fault which had prematurely triggered them. Searching the wiring for problems proved fruitless, as most of the control systems were contained within the capsule. **  
**  
The capsule! Desdin had lost track of it against the darkness of the night sky. He frantically searched for a dark patch among the stars, anything to tell him where it was. His light was too diffuse to illuminate anything at more than 100 metres or so. **  
**  
Desdin floated alone in the dark, resigned to wait until the sun came up.

 ****  
Then, in a flash of insight, he remembered the transponder tracking system. The signal which his ship gave off could be heard by his suit's radio! Hardly daring to breathe, he pointed his antenna at various spots in the sky while listening carefully for the signal. **  
**  
At first, he heard nothing but the faint hiss of static. Heart hammering in his ears, he twisted around, trying to hear something. **  
**  
All of a sudden, a faint ** _beeeeeeeeeeeeep_** came from his upper left. Back on Kerbin, he found that sound exceptionally annoying, but at the moment it was more welcome than being told about free snacks. Excitedly, he fired his thrusters and shot off in that direction, the signal growing stronger by the second. Finally, he got close enough for his light to illuminate the dark outline of his ship.

 ****  
Wrenching open the capsule door, cramming himself in, and repressurizing in record time, Desdin yanked off his helmet. The air levels hadn't fully normalized yet, so he felt light-headed for a few seconds. After strapping himself into his seat, he leaned back. He was a wreck. His heart was hammering, and his breaths came in short, rapid bursts. His hands were shaking so much that he had trouble grasping the controls. For now, he just rested them in his lap. **  
**  
Then he noticed a red light on his control panel. It had stayed dark through most of the mission, but now it had activated, it signified the capsule had less than ten percent of its power remaining. Desdin smacked himself on the forehead. Of course, the solar panels were back on the jettisoned part of his spacecraft, and the high power levels he had been drawing to run the reaction wheels were draining the batteries dry. **  
**  
Acting quickly, Desdin switched off all systems, reaction wheels, the radio, even the flight computer. With no engines or any sort of maneuvering system, it was uselessly drawing power. The only thing he left on were the life support system, and even then he dialed back the heaters to their lowest setting. It would keep him from freezing to death, but the capsule would get cold. **  
**  
Desdin leaned back. He realized that he couldn't contact Mission Control without draining the battery further. With the comm on, he'd only have about an hour of life support left. Besides, he doubted that Control would have much to contribute; they'd probably just tell him to deorbit himself with his jetpack, and catch him with a helicopter or something if he survived reentry, based on their 'solutions' they'd come up with for the past few missions.

* * *

 **"** So what did you do?" Erdan asked, with bated breath. Desdin had stopped talking. The kerbal was now staring down into his hands, studying them intently. **  
**  
"Desdin? We've got to continue the—" **  
**  
"I know." This short response was enough to make Erdan stop. He glanced at the camerakerbal, who was likely feeling much like how Erdan was; intrigued about Desdin's story, but put off by his mannerisms. **  
**  
After about thirty seconds, Desdin continued, still without looking up. **  
**  
"I…mentioned how terrifying it is to…exit your spacecraft on the night side. That darkness, the cities of Kerbin your only light, it's…it's horrible." **  
**  
"But why did you go outside? What was your plan?" **  
**  
"Thinking about how Control would have reacted gave me the solution: I had my jetpack. I could use it to deorbit the entire capsule, heatshield, parachute and all." **  
**  
"But you mentioned that the jetpack didn't produce much thrust. Deorbiting an entire capsule must have taken hours." **  
**  
"Six. It took…six. Six hours of utter silence, six hours of pushing that capsule. At the end I wasn't sure if I'd…if I'd even make it to the ground alive."

* * *

Mission Control

* * *

 ****

 _ **"**_ _This is RC-107 calling Control, we have a visual on the capsule."_ **  
**  
"Roger that, RC. What's its status?" Gene jumped to his feet. **  
** _  
"Currently floating in the ocean, off the coast of Espinias. Are we clear to enter their territory? Don't want to spark another international incident."_ **  
**  
"They're currently CKFN-leaning, it might not be the best idea to provoke them. They've been known to shoot at any unfriendly aircraft they see, including large birds." **  
** _  
"Copy, this large bird is staying well away. Do you know if the kerbal's still alive in there?"_ **  
**  
"We lost all contact with the spacecraft about a day ago. He must have turned off his radio to save power. Unfortunately, it never came back online, so we have no idea. However, his life support couldn't have lasted this long, even with all  
nonessential systems shut down." Gene paused, then continued in a hoarse voice. "He's…he's probably gone." **  
**  
The comm was silent for a moment. **  
** _  
"Roger that."_ **  
**  
"I'll work on getting official clearance to retrieve the capsule. It shouldn't take more than a day or so, divert to the nearest friendly runway and remain on standby." **  
** _  
"Affirmative, we'll stay in touch."_ **  
**  
Gene sat down heavily, head in hands. How did this mission go so wrong?

 ****

* * *

****

**"** So how _did_ you get back to the USKK?" **  
**  
Desdin was staring sideways, not really paying attention to Erdan. Before the newscaster could repeat his question though, the former kerbonaut responded. **  
**  
"Does it matter?" **  
**  
Erdan stopped short. "You describe the whole mission vividly, except your rescue?" **  
**  
"You call that a rescue?" All of a sudden, Desdin was filled with rage, again staring at Erdan with those terribly intense eyes. "They abandoned me. I was floating in that capsule for longer than I was in space, and they were shocked to  
realize that I was still alive when they pulled it out of the sea!" **  
**  
"I…ah," **  
**  
"Why didn't they save me? Why didn't they bring me back from space sooner? Why didn't they pull me out of my capsule as soon as I landed? I could see the rescue plane! I could see it!" **  
**  
At this, Desdin began sobbing, taking Erdan by surprise. He moved over, and patted the former kerbonaut's shoulder awkwardly. **  
**  
"There, there. I'm sure they did everything they could. From what I heard, they saved you from being captured by the CKFN."

Desdin looked up. "Saved me? I wasn't saved. They opened my eyes to the true nature of the space program. Corruption, lies, and incompetence, it goes all the way to the core, same as the whole USKK!" **  
**  
Shocked, Erdan had no response for this. Desdin looked directly into his eyes. **  
**  
"Mark my words, Erdan. You'll get plenty more of these stories in the future. The space program is heading towards doom."

* * *

 ****For the first fifteen minutes after they left Desdin's house, neither reporter nor camerakerbal spoke.  
 **  
**Finally Erdan broke the silence. "So... What did you think of the interview?"  
 **  
"** Honestly sir? I don't think he's really all there. The poor guy went through a lot, I'm pretty sure he's not remembering everything correctly. And that rant at the end... I mean, come on!"  
 **  
"** Really? I thought he had a couple of valid points."  
 **  
"** I don't know. I think he's just steamed at the program for not rescuing him right away. The guy's got a point about being left floating off of some city-state's borders for well over a day, but seriously? He was completely making things up about those lax safety checks. By Harv, you just had an interview with Jeb where he reassured you that they're doing all they can, safety-wise."  
 **  
"** That's true. You can't excuse me from being skeptical of the official story though. I've got to show the story from all sides."  
 **  
"** So be skeptical of this kerbal! Didn't you see his house? He's a recluse, hiding away from society. He's spouting off conspiracy theories and more. I don't think 'his side' even deserves to be aired."  
 **  
"** You may have a point," Erdan responded, looking off into the distance as the van drove along.

* * *

 ****His camerakerbal's words haunted Erdan for the next few days. As he looked over the footage, he debated with himself whether or not he should publish it. Sure, it was an example of free speech, but it was true, a lot of the kerbal's accusations seemed unfounded at best, and occasionally, conspiratorial and downright paranoid. As he went to bed, he placed the tapes on his bedside table, resolving to decide what to do with them in time for work tomorrow.  
 **  
**He was still was in turmoil after waking up. As he went through his morning routine, no answer came easily. Then, as he was about to leave for the studio, his eyes fell on his very first journalism award, lovingly maintained in a display case by the front door. He had won that back in high school, for his excellent reporting on the final hours and ceasefire of the Great War. He had a duty to the citizens of this nation, to keep them informed on worldwide events and uphold the truth. If that meant he'd have to show the other side of the story now and again, so be it. He grabbed the tapes, and put them in his bag.  
 **  
**When he arrived at the studio, he gave the lead tech the tapes and told him to work them into the afternoon broadcast. His conscience satisfied, he began working through his interview schedule for the day. Shortly after lunch, however, he received a phone call from the tech.  
 **  
"** I'm terribly sorry sir, we can't find the tapes. One of the interns must have misplaced them. I'm so sorry!"  
 **  
"** Don't worry about it. Keep looking for it, but it's not the end of the world if you can't find them. Just air a rerun of 'Story Time with Xactar' if they don't turn up."  
 **  
"** Will do."  
 **  
**Erdan paused for a minute. How curious. Ah well, he had more important things to do today, the tapes would probably turn up eventually.  
 **  
**They never did.


	18. Hard Dock

**CKFN:** Space Facility Meeting Room B  
Four Months before _Uranus VII_ & _VIII_ docking attempt

* * *

"So it's decided. We'll use the RV-105 thruster ports for the docking maneuver."

"Hey, hold on a sec! We never came to a final decision on that! I still think the PA-7 linear thrusters offer more control over the spacecraft's translation."

"But the 105s give more control directions, for a cheaper price to boot! Not to mention the increase of mass when you have to account for those extra PA-7s onboard."

"They're _RCS thrusters_. Their mass is negligible! Besides, Reaction Systems Ltd. will sponsor us if we use their models. That offsets the increased cost!"

"And how would STEADLER react? You think reaction wheels just grow on trees?"

Danford sighed. He felt like this argument had been going on for weeks. In a way, it had. When the initial Munar design session proved to be utter chaos, he'd held many smaller meetings in the weeks since then. The hope was that they could be more productive and finalize all the details of the CFKN's Munar mission without too many arguments.

He was half-successful, at least. While they _did_ accomplish more, the meetings were anything but focused; the fewer kerbals meant more arguments between engineers. Even the timider ones had surprisingly strong opinions on certain mission components.

Dilbrett, a major voice in these meetings, addressed the entire room.

"Regardless of the make of thruster, we can't just ignore the fact that the RCS and docking systems are _completely_ unproven. A mission aiming for the Mun which depends on those components working perfectly is extraordinarily reckless, worthy of those fools in the USKK!"

Heads nodded around the table, as the _Uranus III_ solar panel mishap was fresh in the minds of all those present.

Scratching his chin, Danford addressed his Chief Engineer. "So Brett, what do you propose we do about it?"

* * *

 **CKFN:** Advisory Council Meeting Room  
Three Weeks Later

* * *

Spirits high, Danford entered the room. As was custom, all Council members ignored him; they were debating some issue or another among themselves.

It appeared that today was a special day; the President himself was there too. The leader of the CKFN rarely bothered with these meetings (and the inevitable disagreements which resulted), instead preferring to read the summaries drawn up by each council member. However, with elections coming up, he evidently wanted to keep his ear close to the ground when it came to the various programs of the CKFN.

Clearing his throat, the Director of the Space Programme stood in front of the council members.

"Ah Danford, you're here. You had mentioned you had some sort of presentation for us?" BIlcas commented, looking up from his papers.

"I do. Corely, if you'd please?"

His companion—a young intern working at the Space Programme—struggled through the door, arms full of slides. These detailed the various technical specifications of the entire Munar roadmap, from launchpad maintenance specifications to which brand of snacks the kerbals should carry with them on their journey.

"Set the projector up in the back," Danford instructed, as the kerbal dragged a large suitcase full of audiovisual equipment into the room.

When he had managed to get everything set up and the Council members had turned toward the projection screen, Danford began.

"As you all know, in recent months the USKK has been exceeding our space program in nearly every conceivable manner, from number of launches to new technologies developed. Fortunately, we are ready to counter these accomplishments with one of our own, one which will exceed anything the USKK plans to put into space. Corely?"

The intern turned on the projector, which displayed a full page of flux integrals, capable of instilling fear in anyone who had not undergone at least three years of vector calculus. This was decidedly not what Danford intended to show the Advisors, and he glanced at the intern in the back, clearing his throat pointedly.

The kerbal in the back fumbled with slides, inserting another into the projector. An image of Danford on his last vacation appeared on the screen. This was the one where he had ill-advisedly gone hula dancing and was as such dressed in a short grass skirt, promoting a fair number of chuckles from the audience.

Cheeks flushing—where had Corely even _found_ that picture—Danford cleared his throat once more.

Finally, the correct image appeared, that of the full Mun, as imaged through the CKFN's finest telescope.

"Our goal is simple: the Mun," Danford announced, hoping the previous two slide mixups did not detract from the gravity of this announcement. The four kerbals of his audience froze in shock, not sure how to respond to this ambitious announcement.

Bilcas was the first to react. "Land on the Mun? How much will _that_ cost?"

"I thought the space program was aiming for only near-Kerbin missions? Why are you shooting for the Mun?" General Geoffnard commented.

Even Bilfrod had something to say. "A Munar mission certainly is possible, but I have doubts about your hardware. If you're currently taking months to build a rocket just to reach low orbit, how long will an entire _Munar landing_ take to complete?"

Danford sighed. He'd expected this criticism, certainly, but surely _one_ of the council members could show a little support? Bilfrod was the Science Advisor, by Mu! Surely _he'd_ appreciate a Munar mission.

"If you'll turn to Page Seven of the report—thank you Corely—you'll see our estimates for the missions' cost, timescales, _and_ feasibility." The intern distributed thick booklets to each Council Member.

Danford's eyes turned to the President. That important CKFN official's expression was neutral as he parsed the words of Danford and the Council members.

Finally he spoke. "As you mentioned, the USKK _has_ been launching a great deal of ships, achieving greater and greater feats every mission. Their launch capabilities obviously greatly exceed our own. It may be in our best interests to invest the time and resources that would be spent on such a Munar mission on improving our infrastructure and increasing the number of kerbals we put into orbit."

"With all due respect sir, if our eyes are turned anywhere but skyward, we will most definitely fall behind the USKK. All funds are currently put towards constructing and improving the rockets we have now; we have none to spare for upgrading our facilities. That being said, I believe our current facilities are good enough to allow a Munar Landing."

Apparently satisfied by this, the President sat back in his chair.

"So unless there are further questions, I will continue with our series of missions," Danford addressed all members of the Council.

"Our initial proposal is a test of the Reaction Control and docking systems, which will occur in Low Kerbin Orbit. This hardware is the most crucial for our chosen Munar mission configuration, and we must be completely confident in its ability to keep our crew alive on a mission to the Mun."

"We will launch two ships, a modified _Caelus_ capsule with integrated docking port, as well as an unkerballed refueling vessel based off of the _Caelus_ design. These two vessels will rendezvous in orbit, then dock together. We will test several methods which will be critical for the Munar mission, including fuel transfer and a long-duration stay in orbit. Fortunately for us, the USKK has proven that long-term missions are indeed possible, so we will pack the refueling ship with supplies to maintain our crew on-orbit for at least a week, the longest a Munar mission could reasonably take to complete."

"Our next mission will then follow up on this framework, and send a _Caelus_ and its refueler on a Munar flyby trajectory, the first of its kind. This will both gather information for further Munar testing as well as serve to boost our standing as a leader of space exploration"

"During all of this, the plan is to design and build a separate spacecraft which is capable of landing on the Mun. With the knowledge we will have gained, it will then be trivial to attach it to a final _Caelus_ –refueler, and put kerbal boots on the ground!"

Corely changed the slide to an artist's impression of a spacesuited kerbal standing on the Mun, a flag flying bravely as he gazed towards Kerbin, depicted as a small blue marble on the horizon.

"Now if you'll all follow along with me in the report, I go over exactly how these missions will be carried out…"

* * *

After the meeting, Danford was supervising Corely's efforts to put away the projector, making sure that he didn't drop another expensive piece of equipment. Then he noticed that General Geoffnard remained in the room. "Something I can do for you, General?"

"Why yes, Danford. By your estimate, would the refueling vessel exceed 5 tonnes?"

"Uhh…We haven't compiled a detailed mass budget yet, but it shouldn't. Why do you ask?" answered Danford, somewhat confused by this request.

"I am overseeing a division of the Military which has been experimenting with our own rocket designs, and we've come up with a vehicle capable of launching approximately that weight to orbit. It promises to be much cheaper and faster to build than the ships you're currently working on at your Facility."

"Interesting," mused Danford.

"We should be able to lend a hand in your situation. Naturally, we don't have the same calibre of engineering talent that you've acquired, so some…assistance from your staff would be most welcome."

Caught off-guard by this offer, Danford had to take a minute before replying. "This is—this is really generous of you, General!" Then the Director's eyes narrowed. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, don't you worry. It's to both our advantages if we combine forces. We're fighting on the same side, after all." The General's eyes twinkled, and he exited the meeting room.

* * *

 **CKFN:** Danford's Office  
4 months later, Immediately prior to _Uranus VII_ & _VIII_ docking maneuver

* * *

"Director?"

A timid kerbal peeked into Danford's office.

 _Caelus III_ had run into yet more delays, mere weeks from launch. This left Danford in a particularly irritable mood as he tried to resolve them in a timely manner. "What is it?" he snapped, without even looking up from his desk.

"Y-you may want to see this. The USKK, well, they…they've launched another mission."

"Already?" Now he did glance up from his paperwork, snorting in annoyance. "They're really pumping those rockets out. What does this make, the seventh?"

"Actually, t-there are two rockets. We're…not getting much, but it looks like they're attempting some sort of…docking procedure."

Danford sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "Let me see this."

He strode out to the main assembly chamber, where a small television sat, perched atop an engine bell. Sure enough, there was footage of a USKK spacecraft lining up for a docking maneuver with another ship, which was already in orbit.

Danford arrived just in time to see that spacecraft bump into the other one, shaking the camera mercilessly. The image had no sound accompanying it, but Danford could easily imagine the loud **THUD** such an impact would generate. Several engineers winced.

"Well, it doesn't look like they've quite managed to figure out docking yet," Danford remarked to the assembled crowd, his dark mood lightening a touch.

"Nah, his approach was fine, it's just that the port doors didn't open, see?" replied Dilbrett. The lead engineer was present as always, his keen eyes picking out minute details on the two spacecraft.

"Hm, why so they didn't. I wonder what the cause was?"

"It looks like we're about to find out, one of the kerbals is going EVA!" one of the gathered engineers remarked excitedly.

Danford hated to admit it, but the USKK certainly did advance its technology quickly. It was only a few months ago that the EVA suits were merely an idea. In fact, many academics had had doubts that it was even possible to sustain a kerbal outside of their spacecraft. But despite the naysayers, the USKK had built a functional suit and a jetpack system, which the onscreen kerbal was now using to fly towards the stricken vessel.

Several engineers chuckled as the kerbonaut on EVA tapped on _Uranus VII_ 's window and waved to the kerbal inside. However, from his reaction to the damage, it appeared that the port had sustained irreparable damage, and so he began the trip back to his own spacecraft.

Now that the excitement had passed, the assemblage of kerbals dispersed back to their assigned jobs throughout the VAB, leaving Danford and Dilbrett watching the capsule commence its deorbit burn.

"You know Brett, what I'd like to know is how on Kerbin they always manage to beat us to whatever we're planning. I know the media constantly reports on our mission plans, so they're far from secret, but surely we have at least some sort of head start!"

Dilbrett responded. "Simple. It's their quantity over our quality." Switching off the TV, he faced Danford. "Since our ships are so much more robust than theirs, we can head straight for the Mun, while the USKK are dealing with faulty RTGs and malfunctioning components in low orbit!"

Danford sighed. "You have a point. Though I would have expected us to launch at least _something_ during these last four months. The USKK's just launched their eighth _Uranus_ , for crying out loud! Surely we can launch a probe or something, just to stop grass from growing on the launchpad?"

"Everyone's working as hard as they can on _Caelus_ , I can assure you, with little resources to spend on anything else. However, the fact that we have to build a refueling ship at the same time certainly didn't speed matters up though. At the moment we're spending most of our time there just integrating it with General Geoffnard's launch vehicle. Now, if you'd give Project _Jupiter_ another look, it would provide a common format of attachment and—"

"Dilbrett, if we don't have enough workers and money to work on one little probe, we certainly don't have enough to build a whole new _lifter system_. Just…" Danford massaged his temples. "Just keep working with the staff and resources you have on _Caelus_. I'll see what I can do about getting some more."

Danford walked back to his office. This was all Bilcas' fault: that cantankerous old kerbal kept on slashing his budget, _despite_ the importance of his mission. He'd have to bring this up at the next Advisory Council meeting…

* * *

 **CKFN:** Site 84B  
Three Weeks Later

* * *

The icy wind nipped at Dilbrett's face, prompting the engineer to wrap his scarf a little tighter. Why _he_ of all kerbals was required to be present for this launch was far beyond him; it would have gone off just as well had he been back at the space facility, sitting in a nice, comfortable, climate-controlled room in the VAB, enjoying a nice hot beverage. Sure, Danford had told him to make sure the launch of the docking target went off perfectly, and he _did_ catch that frozen O-ring on one of the SRBs, but the weather here was absolutely unbearable.

Even the rocket itself made him uncomfortable. General Geoffnard's 'engineering talent' were basically model rocket jockeys who had never even _heard_ of a liquid-fuelled engine. All they had on hand were SRBs, and had built their launcher entirely from those. He _still_ got a nasty taste in his mouth whenever he looked at the thing. SRBs! With them on board, you might as well just not even bother with a guidance system at all.

Still, his team had done good work for this rocket. They had stripped a _Caelus_ spacecraft down to its structural frame, attached a probe core, expanded fuel system, and a whole load of batteries, all along with an integrated docking port on top. It was some of their finest work, well worth the time it had taken to complete.

All except for the batteries, that is. Dilbrett was itching to get his hands on a proper solar panel, but the teams in the labs were having trouble making them work in vacuum. Thus, the giant array of batteries would have to do.

A shout from the launchpad distracted him from his musings.

"Rocket secured, we're clear for launch!"

The crews had completed their final inspection of the rocket and its payload. The ship had evidently passed all tests with flying colours. It didn't even need fuelling; the propellants were storable and preloaded. Of course, it made for some tense construction scenarios, requiring strict procedures for booster handling to prevent accidents. How the imbeciles in the USKK's program managed to attach SRBs to _every_ rocket of theirs without blowing themselves up was beyond Dilbrett.

As the countdown reached zero, the docking target began its climb into the heavens. Officially, this ship had no name, as it was a singular event, this launch. Future refueling vessels would launch aboard _Caelus_ lifters for increased payload capacity. However, this did not stop the engineers who built the vessel from christening her the _Janus_.

 _Janus_ streaked towards space, slowly arcing over in a rough approximation of a gravity turn. Rather than the easterly launch profile all ships from either USKK or CFKN had followed up to this point, _Janus_ was launching nearly due south, in a trajectory specifically calculated to pass directly over the main Space Facility, where _Caelus III_ sat ready on the launchpad.

As the rocket faded from view, Dilbrett went to an intercom, punched in his special code, then spoke into the microphone. "Payload launched as expected and is en route. We are go for _Caelus III_. Repeat, we are go."

* * *

 **CKFN:** 24.7 km above sea level  
Five minutes later

* * *

Matdun carefully guided _Caelus III_ through the air. The liftoff had been smooth, but the most difficult part of this ascent still lay ahead. Danford had decided that they must rendezvous with _Janus_ immediately, as even Dilbrett's huge battery array was not guaranteed to last an entire orbit without a recharge. Once the spacecraft went dead, there was no way to find it in the sky, let alone give it commands. Thus, it was crucial that Matdun rendezvous with the target on her first try.

"Jenfry, get me a reading on our relative velocity," she barked.

Her crewmate punched a few keys on his console, bringing up the necessary number. A cursory glance showed her uncomfortably large numbers. Their pitch over maneuver had come too late, the consequence of a thunderstorm occurring several hundred kilometres downrange. As a consequence, too much of their velocity was vertical, and _Janus_ was blazing along at well over two kilometres per second towards them.

 _I wasn't trained for this, dammit!_ She had seconds to figure out how to solve this, otherwise _Janus_ would blow right by them, and would be dead by the time she could get _Caelus III_ into a proper orbit.

"Jenfry, I'm pitching us down to five degrees above the horizontal. Please advise the ground of this."

"Roger tha—wait, _five degrees_? We shouldn't pitch over to less than thirty until at _least_ forty klicks!"

"Jenfry, there's a time for procedure, and there's a time for flying by the seat of your pants. I learned that from Bilvin a long time ago."

Indeed, it was that other kerbonaut's last-second maneuver on _Caelus II_ which had prompted Matdun to try and learn some _unconventional_ skills so that she could prepare would for any situations like this.

"Well, Roger that I guess. Control, we're pitching down to a criminally low attitude at this altitude so we can catch _Janus_ , please confirm."

Standard procedure dictated that a rocket should not pitch over too far in a dense airflow for good reason. Deviating more than ten degrees from one's prograde marker would result in an drag distributing itself unevenly on the vessel, causing an improperly-controlled rocket to tumble out of control.

Fortunately, this spacecraft was in the best hands on Kerbin.

"How's that relative speed looking like now, Jenfry?" she yelled over the engine noise.

"It's decreasing quickly! Very quickly! Wait…now it's stopped decreasing. Uh, is this a problem?

 **CHOOM**

"Negative, the second stage ran out of fuel; I just decoupled it. What's our velocity now?"

A gentle vibration began as the four engines of _Caelus_ throttled up as the ship continue to burn towards its target.

"Relative velocity has dropped below one hundred metres per second! You've circularized our orbit and we're on a direct rendezvous course with _Janus_ , five-point-three klicks away. You did it, Matt!"

The pilot relaxed her tight grip on the controls. Despite the odds, she'd pulled this off. The sound of cheering came through her earpiece, and a smile spread across her face.

* * *

Matdun spoke into her headset. "We are sitting two hundred metres off _Janus_ ' starboard side. Requesting permission for final approach, over."

" _Permission granted,_ Caelus III, _you are clear to begin the docking maneuver. Best of luck._ "

"Roger that, Danford!" Jenfry said brightly into the radio. "Activating RCS now."

Despite his goofy attitude and lack of professionalism, Jenfry certainly knew how to dock a spacecraft. It didn't matter if it was spinning, reentering an atmosphere, or completely out of RCS fuel, he would hit that target. And he had done so, in the simulator, multiple times.

So it was to Matdun's complete unsurprise that she felt the two spacecraft connect smoothly, with a faint _clink_. "Docking successful," she reported. "Linking spacecraft subsystems now."

The interior lights dimmed for a second as the two spacecrafts' electrical systems coupled, but quickly increased back to their normal levels.

Now that the two spacecraft had successfully connected, things could proceed at a more leisurely pace. Their task was now to confirm that fuel transfer was indeed possible between spacecraft. Flicking several overhead switches, Matdun configured the tanks onboard the _Janus_ to begin pumping fuel into _Caelus_ ' half-full ones.

With a low whine, fuel pumps began moving mass from the other spacecraft to _Caelus III_.

"This looks like it could take a while," Jenfry commented, as he stared at the tank gauge levels, which were increasing at a snail's pace.

"Then let's take the chance to admire the view," responded Matdun, looking out her window. The sun had just risen, illuminating the planet below. Despite being a relative veteran of the Space Programme, she never tired of the sights one saw from orbit.

* * *

 **CKFN:** Advisory Council Meeting Room  
Two days later

* * *

"I think I can speak for everyone when I congratulate you on achieving your objective, Danford!" General Geoffnard exclaimed. "At this pace, we will make it to the Mun _years_ before the USKK even leaves Kerbin orbit."

Bilfrod, on the other hand, found value in the technical achievements attained. "Demonstrating that fuel pumps function as expected in orbit opens up _so_ many new opportunities! Just think, we can have vast refuelling stations in Kerbin orbit, ready to top off and send vessels to the Mun and beyond at a moment's notice! A true _spaceport_!"

"Yes yes, well done Danford." Bilcas, as always, remained unaffected by the report. "However, I couldn't help but notice the reaction of our population. Public opinion of the Space Programme is flagging, the exact opposite of what appears to be occurring in the USKK. Their docking mission was far more exciting: the tension when those two spacecraft slammed together, the light-hearted EVA which followed, the heartbreak which gripped their nation at the presumed death of one of the kerbals, and then the sheer joy at his discovery days later. It was almost like something out of a movie!"

"But—but it _shouldn't_ be out of a movie; a properly-executed space mission should achieve all its objectives without incident. The USKK is dangerously flippant with their kerbals' safety, and nearly all our engineers agree that it's just a matter of time until something goes horribly wrong!"

"Be that as it may, their space program certainly has captured their public's admiration and support." The Finance Minister leaned forward. "Perhaps it is time to emulate their 'kerbal' policy, and loosen safety regulations slightly. I am certain the public would greatly enjoy the—"

Danford interrupted, horrified. "I can't believe I'm hearing this. How can you just _casually suggest_ we put our crew at risk like that? This meeting is over. Goodnight!"

As he stormed out of the meeting room, it occurred to Danford that Bilcas would likely take this disagreement as reason to slash the Space Programme's budget yet again. Dilbrett would not be pleased…


	19. Inter Sidera

**USKK:** Jebediah Kerman's Office  
Three hours after _Caelus III_ docking.

* * *

"This is bad. This is bad. This is very, _very_ bad."

Jeb paced around the room, unable to keep still. Bill worriedly looked on, concerned for his colleague.

"Relax, Jeb. _Caelus III_ was just one docking maneuver, nothing really more technically challenging than our own."

"Yes, but it _succeeded_!" The Director of the USKK Space Program sat down behind his desk, rubbing his temples. Bill had known Jeb a very long time, and had rarely seen him this worked up. Most of the time, Jeb projected utter confidence in his goals and vision for the Program. Suppressing a smile, Bill realized that his friend was behaving very much like his counterpart, the anxious Director of the CKFN's Space Programme—what was his name, Dinfrid?

"Jeb, listen to me. The engineers have triple-checked the docking ports on _Uranus IX_ , and we have a launch date all set up for two weeks from now. Plus, we've flown nearly _three times_ as many missions as the CKFN!"

 _Though we're about even in terms of successful ones,_ he added to himself. Nevertheless, his words did have a positive effect on the Director, who even cracked a small grin.

"That is true. We'll show the CKFN that their docking maneuver's no big deal; we can put far bigger and better hardware into orbit!"

Bob burst into the room, breathing heavily, evidently having run a great distance. "Jeb, I've— _huff huff_ —I've got an important bit of info for you, but you're— _phew_ —not going to like it."

"Hit me."

Taking a second to catch his breath, Bob continued. "The CKFN is going for the Mun. _Caelus IV_ will be a Munar flyby, and they're pushing towards an actual landing as soon as possible."

Bill frowned. "How do you figure that? Isn't the CKFN focused on beating our orbital duration record? That's practically the whole point of their docking in the first place. Wasn't _Janus_ built to carry supplies up to a long-duration _Caelus_ capsule?"

"Bob makes sense, BIll," Jeb cut in. "If our estimates are right, _Janus_ carries far more fuel than supplies. If they refueled _Caelus_ in orbit, it _should_ be possible to make it to the Mun with the capsule itself."

Bill scratched his chin. "So that was basically a Munar dry run. The CKFN has the capability for a Munshot."

"And I'm willing to bet they're going to make it there next time they launch." Bob broke in, much recovered from earlier. "But for some reason they decided not to pull the trigger, instead just undocking and returning to Kerbin. Perhaps they had some sort of malfunction they're keeping under wraps?"

Bill rolled his eyes. "You're forgetting this is the _CKFN_. I bet their engineers don't even eat _dinner_ before constructing and testing at least ten prototype sets of cutlery. They're probably going to launch the real mission sometime in the next couple of months."

"Though we mustn't get too complacent," Jeb pointed out. "The fact that they've done all those tests means that they should be able to build another rocket straight away. I wouldn't bet on their launch date being more than four to six weeks away."

"Yeah, they could be trying to lull us into a false sense of security, make us think that there's no way they'll make it to the Mun before them, then blindside us, and beat us to it!" exclaimed Bob, punctuating his words with a series of rapid hand jabs.

Even Bill started to worry, his earlier good mood gone. What would happen if the CKFN managed to make it to the Mun first? The current wildly positive public opinion of the Space Program may vanish if the USKK didn't paint itself as a leader in space exploration. And once the public left their side, so would the backing of their (somewhat shady, Bill had to admit) corporate friends. Without money, they couldn't launch missions, and without those, why, it just devolved into a negative feedback loop which could end in a hundred different ways, none of them good.

"You're the Director, Jeb," Bill said. "What should we do?"

Considering his options silently for a minute, Jeb then spoke. "First of all, modify _Uranus IX_. It's a perfectly usable spacecraft, but it just doesn't have what it takes to get to the Mun. Keep the crew capsule, but beef up the fuel supplies, and get Danbro cracking on making a rocket which can take it to the Mun. Finally, schedule a press conference. I want to let everyone know that we're going to beat the CKFN one more time!"

* * *

 **CKFN:** Vehicle Assembly Building  
Two hours after Jebediah Kerman's press conference

* * *

"So the USKK's going to the Mun too." Danford mused.

"It was only a matter of time; we haven't exactly been subtle about our Munar plans," responded Dilbrett, as he eased a long-handled screwdriver into an odd-looking engine component.

Danford turned towards his Chief Engineer. "I have to confess, I'm worried we won't be able to launch before the USKK does. They have _consistently_ proven that they can build, test, and launch ships much, much faster than we can. What if that Jebediah is right? What if they beat us there?"

"Then they beat us there. That won't exactly change much; we'll still launch our mission as planned." Dilbrett began twisting the screwdriver with increasing efforts, a screw of some sort was evidently stuck.

"Brett, it could change everything. If the Advisory Council heard that the USKK beat us yet _again_ , I think—I think they might just shut down this program."

"Oh come on." Distracted for a moment by the stuck screw suddenly coming loose, Dilbrett paused before continuing, wiping sweat from his brow. "Scale back our funding, yes. Refuse us access to more suitable facilities, certainly. They've done that before. But they'd never go all the way to shut down the Programme. We've achieved too much, shown that there exists an entire _universe_ out there just waiting to be explored."

Danford's face broke into a faint smile at his old friend's words. "So we have," he whispered, staring wistfully into the distance.

Then he collected his thoughts and addressed Dilbrett once more. "There I go thinking about the future. This is now, and I need to hear how _Caelus IV_ is coming. The Advisory Council certainly can't revoke our funding if we do launch first, now can it?"

Flashing a wry grin and withdrawing the screwdriver from the engine module, Dilbrett began listing the mission's components. "The _Caelus_ capsule is nearly complete, final vacuum checks are being done as we speak. Its launcher appears to have developed a small problem with the starboard fuel flow; fortunately that _should_ be an easily solvable problem, the turbopumps just need readjustment. I estimate we'll be able to launch on schedule."

"Good, good. Have you solved the power issues? I recall the first _Janus_ needed several kilowatt-hours of batteries. That won't last the whole trip to the Mun. Did you get the solar panels to work in a vacuum yet?"

Dilbrett's brow furrowed, as he unconsciously turned the screwdriver over in his hands. "Unfortunately, no. We are still dealing with outgassing in hard vacuum. The R&D wing is researching alternate sealants but they're coming along slowly. Fortunately, they've got a prototype fuel cell which should fit our needs well enough. It doesn't output much power, but it should be able to sustain _Caelus_ on its way to the Mun."

"Excellent, and how about _Janus_? How's its construction proceeding?"

" _Janus_ itself is complete. In fact, it's proven so easy to build, we're thinking of constructing a whole bunch to put into orbit. There's talk about linking them all together and using their shared fuel supplies to move massive payloads."

Thinking about the size a Munar lander would have to be, Danford was glad his Engineering team was looking that far ahead. "What's your ETA on the launch? Same as _Caelus_?"

"Absolutely. We're using the same lifter design for both this time, so no more polar launch sites nor SRBs. It's such a well-used design, the chances of anything happening are really quite negligible. In fact, this has really shown off how standardized lifter designs really speed up the process of launching, not to mention the safety benefits. If we began Project _Jupiter_ , we could have a whole _family_ of lifters, not just the one!"

"Easy there. We've still got to get to the Mun!" Danford chuckled. "Though you do raise an excellent point. Perhaps when _Caelus IV_ has returned it might be worthwhile to look into building some larger rockets. We _will_ have to send an entire lander to the Mun, after all."

"Very true. Alright then, I'd best get back to check on the engineers. Like I said, we will launch within six weeks."

Danford put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Let's go to the Mun."

* * *

 **USKK:** Rocket Testing Grounds  
Three Weeks Later  
Five Weeks after _Caelus III_ docking

* * *

The LV-T45 sputtered once, and died in a billow of black smoke.

"Well, shoot," said one of the engineers gathered around the test stand. Danbro thought that to be an very apt observation. He stepped forward and addressed the crowd.

"Given that enriching the oxidizer flow didn't work, anyone else have any bright ideas on how to increase a T45's thrust? That _doesn't_ involve nitric acid, thank you very much, Gilberry."

A mustachioed kerbal slowly lowered his hand, crestfallen.

"C'mon guys, we've got to figure _something_ out by the end of the month, otherwise _Uranus IX_ won't be able to _take off_ , let alone make it to the Mun!"

There was much discussion among the crowd, but no new ideas. Most suggestions had already been tried, to varying degrees of success, most of which made today's test look promising in comparison.

"What if we went bigger?" a voice rang out.

The Chief Engineer looked up. Slouching against a concrete retaining wall was Doodbro. After his appointment by Jebediah, the kerbal hadn't really done much; he'd hung around with the engineers but never really offered solutions. This now appeared to have changed.

"Bigger how? We could widen the fuel tanks, sure, but what would lift them? There's no way we could build engines big enough in the time we have!"

"Nah, just cluster a bunch of T45's together. You'll have much more space on the bottom of a two meter tank; plenty of room to fit at least six engines."

"You know, that could work! Doodbro, you're a genius!" Danbro began giving orders to the assembled engineers, who quickly scattered to work on the tasks he assigned.

* * *

 **USKK:** Kerbonaut Training Centre  
Two weeks later

* * *

Donnand Kerman walked into the spacesuit fitting room at the Training Centre, where his friend Rondred was currently locked in battle with a very harried-looking technician. He leaned against the wall, watching the ongoing dialogue with amusement.

"Now see here, if you'd just stop moving, I can get this on you."

"Nhhgh, I can't help it! The straps on my legs are too tight; I can't feel my feet!"

"Just try to stand still? I need to get this glove on you, but I can't when you're flailing all over the place!"

"I don't see why I need another spacesuit! Can't I just use my old one?"

"I've told you, _you are going to the Mun_. If something goes wrong you need a suit which can survive for longer than half an hour or so. It takes about a day to get to the Mun and back, it would not do to have you asphyxiate on your way out there."

"But—but I'll have a capsule filled with air!" At this, Ron actually fell over, looking somewhat like a turtle on his back, as he waved his arms and legs helplessly.

" _But if something goes wrong—_ You know what? Forget it. You're worse than my two-year-old. Just… Let's try again in an hour or so, okay? I need a coffee…"

The tech passed by Don, grumbling under his breath about adding something stronger to his coffee, and the other kerbonaut approached his friend, helping him to his feet.

"Hey fearless explorer! Has the dreaded Leg Strap finally beaten you?"

"Ha _ha_ , Don," the other responded, with more than a touch of sarcasm. "They were on really tight! I think I'm lucky that I didn't lose any toes!" With the straps unbuckled, he began rubbing feeling back into his foot.

"So in all seriousness, how are you feeling? I mean you're going to _the Mun_. You'll be the furthest kerbal from Kerbin in history!"

"Don't forget that other kerbal who's going with me! What's his name? Dodfrey? Dunfrod?"

"Heh, you'd better learn it before you climb into the capsule with him, otherwise you'll be in for a very awkward flight!" Don ribbed, but truthfully he had no better idea of what the kerbal's name was. Something starting with B, maybe?

"Hey, I've got a whole week before we lift off, that's plenty of time to learn his name!"

* * *

 **CKFN:** Mission Control  
Three days later

* * *

 _"Final checks complete, we are clear for launch. Good luck you two."_

 _"Fuel systems pressurized, final countdown commencing."_

 _"Liftoff in ten, nine, eight…"_

 _"Spacecraft umbilical disconnected, tower retracted successfully."_

 _"…four, three, two, one, liftoff! We have liftoff of_ Caelus IV _on this beautiful summer day!"_

The rocket leaped into the air, in the same way as all its brethren before it. Danford watched the readouts; strings of numbers flew by almost faster than he could see. Based upon these numbers, the rocket was performing well. At the very limit of its weight carrying capacity, but it was flying well. Perhaps Project _Jupiter_ was more necessary than he'd originally thought.

Despite himself, Danford grinned. This was it! They were finally on their way to the Mun, and before the USKK, to boot! He looked around the control room, filled with kerbals whose hard work had all led up to this moment. He turned to one of the lead controllers.

"How's _Janus_ doing? Ready for launch?"

"Yes sir, she finished final structural checks hours ago and is ready to be rolled out onto the launchpad as soon as _Caelus_ is away."

"What's the ETA on that, an hour?"

"Four, to be precise. We need to make certain that the launchpad is undamaged from _Caelus_ ' liftoff."

Half of Danford wanted to just order the crews to roll out and take off straight away, regardless of launchpad condition, but he knew that it would take much more than a few hours to build a new launcher if it toppled over or blew up because the launchpad failed.

"Alright. Go oversee the procedure personally."

"Yes sir!"

Danford stayed in Mission Control, keeping an eye on _Caelus_ as it continued its burn towards orbit.

* * *

 **USKK:** Kerbonaut Training Centre  
Half an hour later

* * *

 _"We have confirmation of the CKFN's_ Caelus _launch. Repeat,_ Caelus _has launched."_

The loudspeaker blared overhead at the Space Centre. All over the complex, kerbals ran hurriedly to their destinations. _Uranus IX_ stood proudly on top of the launchpad. Like ants, technicians swarmed around it, finalizing tests, taking measurements, and making sure the fuel pumps were operating at peak efficiency.

"'We have over a week,' eh?" Don said playfully, as Ron and he jogged towards the Launchpad. Due to the CKFN's launch, pace had been stepped up, and _Uranus IX_ was ordered to be launched immediately. Ron, not knowing of this fact, missed the bus which normally carried kerbals to the rockets, and had to run the distance himself. Like a good friend, Don was accompanying his Munar-bound comrade. Fortunately, it wasn't too far.

Ron was still struggling with his helmet. While the technician from earlier had succeeded and the suit fit well, whoever had designed it certainly did not consider scenarios in which a kerbonaut would have to put it on while sprinting. As the two made it to the pad, Ron finally locked the helmet in place.

"Alright bud, you'd best get up into that rocket! That other kerbal is probably already up there!"

"Right…His name's D—no. B—oh dear. Do you know it?"

Don shook his head. "Guess you'll just have to call him 'you', like you did for Gene the first six months we were here."

"You know, that _did_ turn out not too badly!"

Don grinned, as their respective definitions for 'not too badly' evidently differed by a large margin.

"See ya, buddy."

As Ron turned towards the elevator, and began pushing the elevator button repeatedly—as if it would make the car arrive faster—Don spoke one more time.

"Hey Ron?"

His friend turned towards him, mirrored faceplate obscuring his features.

"Fly safe," Don said. Without needing to see his features, he knew Ron was smiling.

With a jaunty wave, the soon-to-be extraplanetary kerbal made his way into the elevator and began moving upwards.

* * *

 **USKK:** Mission Control  
Half an hour later

* * *

Jebediah sat back in his chair in Mission Control, taking a sip of coffee. It was going to be a long day.

"Alright people," he spoke up. "Based upon the CKFN's trajectory, it looks like they stuck with a standard zero-degree inclination launch. They're definitely going to the Mun today. But we've still got a shot at this. _Caelus_ can't make it to the Mun alone, so their _Janus_ spacecraft needs to link up with it. Our radar hasn't picked up any other launches yet, so they're going to have to loiter in Kerbin orbit for at least several hours while they get the other craft ready for launch."

One of the technicians spoke up. "That is unless the CKFN has invested in multiple launch pads. If they've done so, they'll be able to launch immediately."

"Impossible." Jeb countered. "The latest intel from the CKFN shows that their Space Programme is suffering from severe budgetary problems. That's half the reason they launch as few ships as they do. Their initial launch site for _Janus_ was only temporary, a base on loan from their military. Besides, it's hardly optimal to launch from such a high inclination for a Munar trajectory."

Apparently satisfied, the tech turned back to his console and continued monitoring its data.

Jeb continued. "If we play our cards right, we should be able to launch and be on our way to the Mun before the CKFN can even dock their ships together! What's the estimated time till launch now?"

"Thirty-two minutes until liftoff, sir," Gene called out from his position in the front.

"Let's go to the Mun," Jebediah Kerman said, a wide grin on his face.

* * *

 **CKFN:** VAB break room  
Fifteen minutes later

* * *

Danford whistled. "That's a big rocket."

Dilbrett had to concur. "I'm always ripping on the USKK engineers, but if they managed to figure out two metre tankage in less than a month, they must have some serious skill over there."

"Are larger rockets really that complicated?"

"For sure! It's not just a matter of scaling up your tanks, you need to design a completely new class of engines to stick below them—though it looks like they've solved that problem by clustering them, very clever—plus the issue of fuel flow, pogo oscillations, along with a higher mass in total so you have to design thicker walls, but not too thick, otherwise you'll be too heavy to take off—"

Danford sighed. Apparently he'd hit a sensitive subject with Dilbrett. He turned his attention back to the television as his Chief Engineer continued with his rant.

* * *

 **USKK:** One Kilometer from Launch Pad  
Seventeen Minutes Later

Don stood on the grassy knoll between the Centre and the ocean. After saying goodbye to Ron, he'd made his way out here, which offered a better view than the limited visibility inside the Space Centre. However, he wasn't the only one who had thought this. Several thousand other spectators also shared this field. When news reached the media that the USKK was shooting for the _Mun_ , they went into a frenzy. Already he had counted at least thirty-eight reporters interviewing various spectators as to what they thought of the impending liftoff, and he'd only just arrived!

The energy of the crowd was intense, a thick buzzing was the result of each kerbal talking excitedly to his or her neighbor about how they thought the launch would go, how the kerbals inside feel right now, or what they had for lunch that day. Seriously, an older gentleman was talking about his sandwich to whoever would listen. Don edged away from that fellow, before he could be subjected to tales of corned beef.

He managed to find a break in the crowd, and miraculously a clear view of the rocket. He checked his watch. Any minute now…

* * *

 **USKK:** Mission Control  
Fifteen Minutes Later

* * *

"We have liftoff! _Uranus IX_ is on its way to the Mun!" Jebediah cried, the joy he felt clearly audible in his voice, and visible in the form of a wide grin from ear to ear, as he stood at the back of Mission Control.

It was a joyful sight, all seven LV-T45s burned skywards, in a display of pyrotechnics that was a sight to be seen by the several thousand spectators gathered around the Space Centre.

Gene was smiling as he turned toward a technician's terminal, but that quickly faded as he noted how many gauges were in the red zone. Already.

"Why are the engines running so hot?" he demanded of the tech, who appeared just as bewildered as himself, stammering out a jumbled response. Unsatisfied, Gene barked to another tech, "Get me on the line with Engineering. Now!"

It took a minute for the Space Centre's internal intercom system to patch him through, and an even longer minute for the lead engineer to answer.

"H'lo?"

"Danbro, we're launching _Uranus IX_ and—"

"What, already? Isn't that in another three hours?"

"No, we're launching _now_ , and its first stage engines are running hot. I need to know why and what we can do to fix them."

"Oh it's, I dunno, probably something to do with the heat conduction of the engines. We had a couple of issues with them during half-power tests."

"Okay, how did they behave at full?"

"Oh… _Right_ , we—ah—never got around to those tests."

Surely Gene had misheard the Chief Engineer. " _What_?"

"Well, we _were_ going to run the engines at full power, but the test stand wasn't strong enough, so I told somebody to let the guys in Maintenance know, and so—"

Gene never heard the rest of the kerbal's response, as he dropped the receiver, leaving it dangling on its cord. He rushed back to the rest of Mission Control, turning various abort scenarios over in his mind. _Uranus_ couldn't fire up its orbital manoeuvring engines like the CKFN could with their _Caelus_ , as the main engine was hidden inside the main structure and couldn't be deployed until the second stage engine had burnt out. Perhaps if they shut down all engines when the ship was above the ocean, then detach _Uranus'_ capsule once it was in free fall?

Before he could reach Director Jebediah and let him know of the options available, one of the techs grabbed his arm.

"S-sir? I have anomalous readings from the engines and I-I'm not quite sure what to do."

Gene looked, and immediately wished he hadn't. The monitor showed that at least three engines had failed to respond to throttle inputs, and two more had ceased providing thrust. Judging by the numbers, they had probably exploded, which explained the loss of throttle control in the others.

 _Damn_. There went his abort plan. Maybe they could still ride it out until the first stage burnt out?

"Sir?" The call came from Trajectory Management and he somehow knew what the kerbal would say before he spoke. "It appears the rocket is suffering from a lack of control, it is beginning to experience a small-scale tumble."

This was apparently the understatement of the decade, as a wide assortment of warnings began appearing on monitors around the room. Alarms blared overhead, producing a tremendous din, which was not helped by kerbal after kerbal attempting to get his attention, each seeming to not comprehend that _yes he was aware that the rocket would smash itself to bits in less than two minutes_.

Finally reaching the Director, Gene spoke quickly. "Sir, as you can tell, we have suffered a loss of at least two first-stage engines. This will lead to _Uranus IX_ impacting the ground in less than one minute, thirty seconds. Our abort scenarios are all but useless, as they were designed for the previous eight _Uranus_ lifters. What are your orders?"

Jeb for once in his life seemed to not know what to say. "I—ah—well—"

"Sir. We are under an extreme time pressure. _What are your orders_?"

"What—are there any ab—abort scenarios left?" Jeb croaked, the wide grin but a distant memory.

"There is one. We _may_ be able to jettison the crew capsule and deploy parachutes, in the hopes that they would yank the capsule away from the rocket. But—"

"That sounds good!" Jeb brightened somewhat. Then he realized Gene hadn't finished speaking. "But what?"

"There are approximately seven thousand spectators on the ground outside the launch site. If a rapidly-spinning rocket impacted their group with enough fuel inside to make it to the Mun—" He swallowed, not having to finish the sentence.

"Then what do we do?"

Gene's mouth suddenly went dry. He barely managed to get two words out. "Range Safety."

Jebediah's eyes widened. "No."

"Jeb, we have thirty seconds. It's either the crew or the spectators."

While Gene had phrased it in the form of a choice, it was really no choice at all. The kerbonauts knew death was a part of the many risks space exploration carried, the ordinary civilians were just there for a rocket launch. Jeb knew this too, and his eyes hardened.

"Fine. But I'll—I'll do it myself. I owe the crew that much. Have we—have we managed to establish contact with them?"

Gene shook his head as he led the Director over to the Range Safety console. _Hopefully they've blacked out due to_ g _forces by now,_ he thought to himself.

Flipping back its protective plastic cover, Jebediah manoeuvred his hand over the Big Red Button. "Forgive me, Harv," he whispered, before slamming his fist down.

 **Ka-thunk.**

* * *

As had happened a year ago during _Aether I_ 's first flight, a series of electronic pulses travelled from the Button, through Mission Control, to the rocket itself. This time, no welding accidents had severed the control lines leading to the explosives. This time, the command executed successfully.

For but a single instant, _Uranus IX_ shone as bright as a star.

Gif Version

* * *

 **CKFN:** VAB Break Room

* * *

"—and that's not even taking into account _vibration_ effects, I mean the larger tank means at least four times the surface area so you need to do a whole new set of scale model tests in order to—"

Danford watched the television as Dilbrett prattled away in the background, unsure of what he was seeing. Did the picture glitch out? Where a rocket flew a minute ago, he could see nothing but white. Then the picture refocused on what was a smear of smoke across the sky.

Dimly Danford noticed Dilbrett's voice trail away in the background. When he glanced over, he saw that the other's eyes had become cold and steely, his earlier extension of respect towards the USKK's engineers instantly revoked.

Danford raised a trembling hand to his mouth, not sure what to say.

* * *

 **USKK:** One Kilometre away from launchpad

* * *

Donnand Kerman stared at the sky. Where once flew his best friend was now a mere puff of smoke. The shock wave hit him next, mussing his hair and imparting a ringing in his ears.

"NO!" he screamed at the sky. "No, no, nonononononono."

He broke down, falling to his knees in the grass, as the first bits of debris began raining down around him, lighting small fires in the grass.

The crowd had now realized fully what had happened, and muffled screams came from those assembled as they attempted to get out of the way of the bits and pieces of flaming rocket which came raining down like the world's worst hailstorm.

Dully, Don reflected that Range Safety explosives—as there was no doubt to what type of explosion that was—attempted to vaporize as much rocket as they could, but were of course unable to annihilate every part of a spacecraft. No type of explosive was nearly powerful enough. Most big pieces—those larger than a kerbal—had been torn apart enough to not pose too much of a threat, but even a fist-sized chunk of metal could still do a fair amount of damage, especially if it's on fire and travelling at half the speed of sound.

Most of the crowd around him had begun to hurriedly gather their things and depart before more rocket could fall on their heads, but Don cared little about his surroundings at the moment.

"Ron…" he whispered. "Ron, why?"

* * *

 **CKFN:** _Caelus IV_ , Low Kerbin Orbit  
Twenty Minutes Later

* * *

" _Romfarer's eye_ , where are those snacks?" Bilvin searched vainly through various nooks and crannies in her compartment of the spacecraft.

" _Hee hee hee!_ " her co-pilot's voice rang out through the intercom sounding suspiciously like his mouth was full.

"Dammit Jenfrey, you'd better not have taken them all! Can't you spare me just one?"

Before Jenfrey could respond, Danford's voice came through her earpiece.

" _Jenfrey, Bilvin, are you there?_ "

"Roger that, boss, we're here. Dealing with a bit of a missing inventory at the moment, but nothing too major." She could hear Jenfrey munching happily on his pilfered stash, and resolved to get her snacks back somehow. She continued. "We're still a good twenty minutes out from our plane-change maneuver though, why are you checking in so early?"

" _The USKK tried to launch a mission to the Mun as well, less than half an hour ago._ "

"Hah, let's see them try! We've got a good head start alread—wait, what do you mean 'tried'?" Danford's somber tone and use of the past tense suddenly hit home.

"Uranus IX _exploded twenty minutes ago, with all crew aboard lost. The USKK is still reeling from the incident._ "

" _I—oh—d'you want us to abort?_ " asked Jenfrey.

" _No, no, that's not necessary. Just—just keep that on your minds during the mission._ "

"Ah, rog—roger that," Bilvin said, and clicked off the comm. "Gee…" she remarked to Jenfrey, all snack-related escapades forgotten.

" _Should we say something?_ " her companion asked.

"I wouldn't know what to say. By Mu, what _do_ you say in this case?"

" _I took Ancient Languages in university, I have something in mind._ "

"Go ahead then."

Jenfrey cleared his throat, then began speaking another language. Bilvin knew little of it beyond the fact that the CKFN named their rockets in it.

" _Requiescent inter sidera, respicit in caelo,_ " the kerbal spoke slowly over the intercom.

"What does that mean?" Bilvin inquired, her curiosity piqued.

" _They will rest among the stars, remembered forever,_ " Jenfrey responded. " _I thought it was fitting._ "

"Fitting indeed," Bilvin said, as she stared out her capsule window at the planet Kerbin, far below.

* * *

 **USKK:** United News Network Broadcasting Station  
Parking Lot  
Two hours later

* * *

Erdan Kerman leaped out of his car and towards the station. It figured that the biggest news story to hit the USKK since the end of the War would happen on his day off! If he could maybe get an eyewitness interview, or bribe a reporter who had been on the scene for pictures of the explosion—this day might just be salvageable after all.

As he burst through the front doors, an intern stopped him.

"Sir, I have some news for you."

"What is it?" He dimly recalled that this kerbal worked in the main broadcasting centre, or something. It was hard to keep track of all the interns.

"Do you remember that kerbal you interviewed? About a month or two ago?"

"I interview a lot of kerbals, you're going to have to be more specific."

"That kerbonaut, you know, the one who left the Program?"

"Right, Desdin. I never forget a face, did you know that? Wait. Did he contact us to ask for a second interview?" The gears of Erdan's mind turned. If he could score an interview with this kerbal commenting on the Space Program _now_ , why that would be a completely new angle on the story!

"Er…no sir. Anyways, he seems to have gone missing, sir."

Erdan's mood shifted nearly as quickly as that rocket had exploded. "And you're telling me this…why?"

The intern now appeared to be realizing that interrupting Erdan _today_ , at this time, for what appeared to be _pointless nonsense_ was a Very Bad Idea. "I just thought…you should…know."

"Unless he wants another interview, don't talk to me again. Got it? I'm _very_ busy." Erdan didn't even wait for a response from the now-whimpering kerbal. He stormed by and began turning story ideas over in his mind again. Maybe he could find someone with singed hair, that would really add a personal touch to the story…

* * *

 **USKK:** Space Centre  
One hour later

* * *

"I—I don't think I can do this anymore, Erdrin," Don said, shakily.

"What do you mean? We all saw what happened, but the two of us have got to stay strong. With Ron…gone, we're the most senior members of the program's kerbonauts. If you leave, who knows how many will follow suit? Without kerbals, this Space Program's going nowhere."

"He—he was my best friend, Erdrin. I need some time…some space to just deal with that."

"And I respect that. We can properly mourn Ronfred ourselves. But at the moment the other kerbonauts just saw two of their own die out there. We've got to reassure them, keep them in the program."

"He was my friend," Don repeated, in a very small voice.

"I know." Erdrin said sympathetically as she patted her fellow kerbonaut's shoulder.

* * *

 **USKK:** Space Centre  
Three days later

* * *

"We are gathered here today to remember the loss of two of our own."

It was a beautiful day, with birds singing and not a cloud in the sky. Rationally, Don knew it was unreasonable for the sky to be dark and pouring with rain just because a rocket blew up, but that didn't change the way he felt.

He sat quietly among those gathered, as Jebediah Kerman led the memorial service. He mainly talked of the two kerbals, and their contributions to the space program. Don couldn't bear to keep listening, so he looked around at the assembled audience. His gaze fell on a sobbing older female kerbal, dressed in black. _Ron's mother?_ he thought. _But he told me his parents were—oh._ He realized that another kerbal was lost in the explosion, and mentally kicked himself. Of _course_ the other kerbonaut also had a life, a family, and people who would miss him. It wasn't all about Ron, was it? This added a spike of guilt to the grief he had been feeling constantly for the last few days. Another wave of guilt washed over him as he realized he _still_ couldn't recall that other kerbal's name.

Jebediah did not forget though, and proclaimed that Rondred and Bobfrey Kerman would be forever immortalized on the grounds of the Space Centre by two kerbal-sized flags. Designed originally for a USKK kerbal to plant on the Mun once they got there, the first production unit would stand as a memorial for the two lost kerbals.

The flag itself was merely black fabric, broken up by a pair of stars shining brightly into the night, marking the two kerbals who had left this world forever.

* * *

 **USKK:** Space Centre  
Three hours later

* * *

Bob and Bill were arguing in one of the Centre's meeting rooms.

"We can't let this stop us from pressing onwards. We must try again." Bob spoke in a clear voice, his stutter when talking to other kerbals than Jeb mysteriously gone. _Stressful events can do a lot to a kerbal_ , Bill thought sarcastically.

"Try again? Bob, we _lost_ two kerbals!"

"And that's a tragedy, but we mustn't let this set us back."

"I can't believe you're willing to just write off this as a _setback_!"

"That's what it is! Those kerbals knew what they were signing up for! We can do more intensive tests next time."

"There won't _be_ a next time. We need to stop all launches, review all personnel, and make sure it _never_ happens again! Like the CKFN, you don't see their rockets blowing up!"

"They have nothing they can teach us. By Harv, we're the _USKK_ , we should _lead_ aerospace design!"

"We are, but we can't just go shooting off rockets blindly, we need to have some sort of idea of where we're going!"

"The Mun, or have you not been paying attention for the past year?" Bob said nastily.

Before Bill could come up with a suitably venomous retort, he caught sight of Jeb walking by the door, a large box in his arms.

"Director! Can we speak with you?"

Hesitantly, Jeb walked into the room. "Hey Bill, Bob." His face, once filled with joy at sharing his visions during these meetings, was blank. Bill and Bob immediately began bombarding Jeb with questions.

"Jeb, what are we going to do?"

"Where do we go?"

"Should we continue the _Uranus_ rockets?

"Do we start anew?"

"What about the engineering staff?"

The Director held up a hand.

"I—I don't know. And it's not my job to know, not anymore."

"What are you saying, Jeb?" Bill asked, cautiously, noticing that the box Jeb was carrying was filled with the contents of his Director's office.

"As of twenty minutes ago, I have resigned from the post of Space Program Director. Bill, you're my successor, and Bob, you will assist him. I've decided I'm no longer fit to lead the Program. Those kerbals died because of me."

"Jeb, you can't _leave_! The CKFN just made it to the Mun, and they'll surely land a kerbal there first! We need you now more than ever!"

"I'm sorry, Bob, but this decision is final. Goodbye you two, and—ah—good luck."

With this, the former Director turned around and walked out of the room, deaf to any more of their pleas.

Bill and Bob glanced at each other worriedly.

"This… This isn't good," commented Bob, wide-eyed.

It was not often the two agreed on something.


	20. Revival

**CKFN:** Tracking Station  
 _Five hours after_ Uranus IX _disaster_

* * *

"What is your current rotational velocity, _Caelus IV_?"

" _We've reached 'bout…four degrees per second. What are the techs calling this again? The 'barbecue' manoeuvre? It's starting to feel a lot like a barbecue in here!_ " Jenfry's voice came through the radio.

Lizby Kerman did not approve of this attempt at a joke, the situation was a little too tense for her liking. _Caelus III_ had steadily risen in temperature on its journey to and from the Mun, and this manoeuvre was the best chance at the spacecraft and its occupants surviving the trip home. The manoeuvre simply consisted of spinning _Caelus_ along its main axis, to prevent any one side from getting too hot. Whether this had worked or not was her primary concern at the moment. She pursed her lips. "Right. What is the the change in the capsule's thermal readings following the manoeuvre?"

There was a significant pause. " _Ah, they've definitely gone down. The heat looks like its increasing by 'bout…point two degrees every minute? Maybe every two?_ "

Lizby let out a breath. At least this had _some_ effect on _Caelus_ ' heating problems. "All right, I will check with the technicians to see if they've come up with anything more. You should still have a significant margin before critical spacecraft systems begin to overheat."

" _What 'bout us kerbals in here? I grew up in the northern CKFN, I'm just not used to this sorta heat!_ "

"The capsule will return to Kerbin in less than two hours. You will be _fine_."

Lizby shut off the radio before Jenfry could respond. She did not have the time nor desire to listen to the kerbal whine any further about how hot it was getting inside the capsule. He'd been at it for a few hours now, and Lizby had been at several points sorely tempted to point out that perhaps some of the hot air inside the capsule was originating inside Jenfry's mouth. Of course, while that would not be the proper thing for a Capsule Communicator to tell the kerbonauts, it certainly did not stop her from thinking it to herself.

She reached the conference room and opened the door. Within, a committee of technicians and engineers were set up, all discussing among themselves the best way to reduce _Caelus_ ' heating problems. Upon spying Lizby's entrance, a bunch of kerbals rushed up to her.

"Delta-t? Delta-t?" they asked, over and over.

Lizby's brow furrowed. _Delta-t?_ She'd heard engineers using the phrase 'delta-v' to refer to a spacecraft's velocity change before, but this was new. Then it hit her. _Of course._ They were asking about the new change in temperature in the capsule. _Engineers._ Sometimes she thought it best if they just stuck to their job of building rockets, and left the communication aspect of it to others. That was _her_ job, after all.

Still, she was stuck with them for the time being, and had to live with it. "The capsule has executed the… ' _barbecue manoeuvre_ ' as planned, and the temperature increase has gone down to nought-point-two degrees per minute."

There was much cheering and back-slapping among those assembled. Danford Kerman, seated at the far end of the table, even perked up some; he had been downtrodden ever since first learning of _Caelus IV_ 's thermal issues.

"Excellent!" The Director said. He even stood up from his chair. "This gives them enough of a safety margin to make it back to Kerbin!" Then his brow furrowed. "Do we have a cause for the overheating problem in the first place, and how we're going to fix it?"

Dilbrett Kerman, scribbling furiously, looked up from his stack of papers. "Yes…and no. We do know what is overheating the capsule: that's the Sun." There were a few chuckles from around the room, but Danford merely raised an eyebrow. "Unfortunately, it looks like _Caelus_ just can't handle this sort of heat. We've got a mishmash of differently thermal conductive interior components, meaning that it's next to impossible to model what the heat's going to do, let alone dissipate it! With low orbit missions, we didn't run into this problem because Kerbin blocked out the sun half the time, but with a multi-hour Munar transit time, the heat is just not leaving the capsule."

Danford stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So how do we fix that? Just reconfigure _Caelus_ a bit?"

"'A bit' would be, unfortunately, an understatement. The amount of work necessary to bring _Caelus_ up to snuff would be on par to just building a whole new capsule altogether!"

Lizby noticed that many engineers, including Dilbrett, were now looking at Danford expectantly. Danford noticed this as well, after a moment.

"What, you guys seriously expect us to build another capsule? Don't you remember how long _Caelus_ took to finish?"

"If _Caelus_ can't safely make it past LKO, then a reconfiguration wouldn't exactly—"

Lizby sniffed. More of those engineers' terms and acronyms. She could tell that this would very quickly devolve into an argument quite full of them, and besides, she had _far_ more important work to do back in the Tracking Station, rather than watching these clowns debating spaceship designs for hours.

As she returned to her post, she could hear the rising argument three corridors away.

* * *

 **CKFN:** Border Guard Station  
 _Two days later_

* * *

Calbin Kerman lounged in the chair atop his guard tower. Guard duty here was a tremendously boring occupation; nothing of note ever happened on the border, least of all at night. At least he could look at the sky. The stars were visible above the trees surrounding him, and away from the bright lights and bustle of major CKFN cities, they shone especially bright. His attention was currently skywards, wondering about what might lay beyond.

Suddenly, he heard a noise from the woods, a strange crackling and rustling. Immediately springing to attention, he gazed out into the darkness beyond his post's spotlights. Seeing nothing, he leaned back in his chair, but remaining mindful of his surroundings.

The noise returned. It sounded almost like an animal dragging itself through the underbrush. Sitting bolt upright, he reached for a pair of binoculars and twisted a dial on the side. This supposedly enhanced their image at night, but all he found it did was decrease the contrast and turn everything a sickly shade of green. Still, every little bit helped.

After warily searching the darkness for the source of this strange noise, he found it. A kerbal stumbling his way through the forest, who appeared very, very lost. From the style of this figure's clothes, he evidently hailed from the  
USKK, but they were so torn and covered in dirt you could barely see what colour they originally were. This kerbal must have dragged himself through the USKK's barbed wire perimeter fence.

Calbin quickly pulled his jacket around himself, and put on his helmet. He needed to get down there and see what this kerbal wanted, be it good or bad. A thought occurred to him, and he grabbed his service revolver and slipped it into his holster, just in case.

Climbing down the ladder of his watchtower, he approached the gate. The mystery kerbal had slumped against its bars, looking disconcertingly like a prisoner. Calbin grimaced. Based upon some things he'd heard about the USKK, that particular description of the wasn't terribly inaccurate. Approaching the figure, he called out.

"Who goes there? This is the border of the CKFN. What is your business here?"

Not responding immediately, the kerbal coughed, then spoke in a croaky voice.

"I—I need help."

Now that he was closer, Calbin could see that the kerbal was bleeding. Whether this was from crawling through the barbed wire or from another injury, Calbin could not tell, even under the glare from the spotlights.

Quickly, he scanned the surrounding forest for any others (he was still a border guard after all), but everything seemed clear. He opened the gate and helped the kerbal inside.

"What's your name?" Calbin asked, half-carrying the mystery kerbal into the guard station's break room. There was a couch there he could rest on.

His guest coughed once. "Des—Desdin."

"Wait a sec… You're one of those USKK kerbonauts! From the Space Program!" Even out here, kerbals still got news of what was going on in that other country, albeit somewhat delayed.

"Not—not anymore…" Desdin began to cough, and fell to his knees. Quickly, Calbin lay him down on the couch and propped up his head.

"Hey, hey, hey. Stay with me. Help is on its way, you're going to be just fine."

The former kerbonaut smiled faintly, but did not speak. Still, he seemed unlikely to fall into unconsciousness any time soon.

Turning away from the kerbal for a minute, Calbin went to his locker, where the manual on how to deal with such scenarios as this was stashed. Flipping through the pages, he found the chapter he was looking for: ' _Defection Directives: What To Do When the Other Side Comes To You_ '.

He leaned against the wall and began reading. Fortunately, it was a short chapter, outlining the basic procedures of what would happen next. All he'd have to do was radio his commanding officer, and the authorities would soon arrive to pick his charge up. The kerbal would be collected and debriefed (naturally, one would want to get as much information as they could from the defector), then the kerbal would be integrated into mainstream CKFN society, under a new name.

It would be a bit of a turbulent time for the poor kerbal, but judging by his state, Desdin was used to it.

* * *

 **CFKN:** Space Facility  
 _One day later_

* * *

"I can't believe it."

"Yes, you've said that already, Bilvin. Just calm down, okay?" Gusbin told her.

"But these are actual pictures of the _Mun_! Up close, not through telescopes or anything!" The two were part of a small crowd clustered outside the Space Facility's darkroom, where a technician was developing the photographs _Caelus III_ took while on its historic mission.

"Yes, I know they're exciting, but you were _just there_ last week; why are you so excited to see it again? If anybody's got a right to be excited, it should be _Danford_ ; he's done the most work out of all of us!" Indeed, the Director of the Space Programme stood nearby, regarding the door to the darkroom patiently. The door looked more like an entrance to some sort of highly fortified bunker, with multiple locks and reinforced hinges, complete with a hand-lettered sign stating: **"DO NOT OPEN"**.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the locks were undone and door opened up, revealing the developer, carrying a stack of photos. The largest ones he displayed at the front of the room, while a few smaller copies were distributed to the crowd. Immediately, there were _ooohs_ and _aaahs_ from everyone upon seeing the photos; this was the Mun, and while it _did_ look an awful lot like a large potato someone had let fall into the dirt, these were the best photos of this celestial body anyone on Kerbin had ever taken.

Even more interesting were the images of the Far Side; while only illuminated partly by the sun, one could clearly see the increased number of craters and scarring caused by the Mun basically acting as a shield for Kerbin from the cosmic hailstorm of meteoroids and their ilk. There was even a long canyon snaking its way across the surface. Gusbin wondered what that would look like from the surface. Imagine the geological processes which must have taken place to produce such a distinctive feature!

Gusbin even let his mind wander a bit, imagining himself standing on the lip of that canyon, seeing its grey walls slope downwards. Of course, this was nearly entirely imaginary; the photos were not nearly sufficiently detailed to show much more than the canyon's outline, but Gus did not let that stop him. For the first time since joining the Programme, he keenly felt that their goal was near. The fact that they got these pictures was proof that they were close. While Danford hadn't revealed anything official, talk abounded throughout the Space Facility that work was soon to commence upon the rocket that would take kerbals to the Mun. There was truly so much to be learned out there, and they'd soon find out what!

* * *

 **USKK:** Space Center Grounds  
 _Three Months Later_

* * *

Joliana Kerman, secret agent extraordinaire and current personal assistant to Bob Kerman, walked along one of the Space Center's sidewalks. She pondered how unpredictable life could be; one day you were chasing down CKFN spies halfway around Kerbin, the next you were fetching papers for a Space Program founding member. Still, this was a good assignment, all things considered. At least no one was shooting at her. So far.

She noted the chill breeze at her back. Three months had passed since _Uranus IX_ had exploded, and winter was fast approaching, with no plans to launch any more ships anytime soon. The effects of that explosion could be still felt; even now governmental agents walked the grounds, investigating various departments' practices and determining whether the Program was safe enough to allow it to continue. They'd sent their preliminary reports to Parliament several weeks ago, and Joliana anticipated official word to come from the capital fairly soon.

She arrived at the Administration Building, greeted Bob's secretary, and entered that kerbal's office. Bob was seated at his desk, scribbling away at something when Joliana walked in. After a minute, the kerbal finished writing and looked up.

"Ah, what do you have for me, Joliana?"

"First of all, sir, Bill Kerman has left for the capital on 'urgent business'."

"Did he specify what sort of urgent business?"

"No sir, he just up and left this morning. I have a few contacts in the capital; I could send someone to keep an eye on him when he arrives in Kolus City if you'd like."

"No need, he's undoubtedly just meeting with the Prime Minister's office again. I must say, Joli, he spends as much time over there as at the Space Center!"

"He must be discussing important matters concerning the Space Program then, wouldn't he?"

"For certain, but the Program's Director really ought to spend more time at the Space Center itself, don't you think?" Bob snorted. "Hmf, regardless, I'm not interested in discussing Bill's choice in travel destinations, what else do you have? Any more news from the engineers?"

"Yes sir, but I'm afraid it's not good. A further ten quit the Program this morning."

"Ten? That leaves nearly less than _half_ as many workers as we had three months ago."

"Danbro's trial and subsequent incarceration really shook many of the staff's confidence, they are afraid the same thing could happen to them."

Bob sighed. "I'm not even going to get _into_ how stupid that is." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then spoke. "Ever since Jeb left, Bill's been giving me side jobs, little projects to keep me busy. It's obvious he doesn't want me messing about with the Program itself. But I can't keep doing nothing for much longer. Bill's so busy with negotiation that he can't see that the Program is breaking up right under his feet. Joliana, are there any senior engineers left? It's past time to crack down on these quitting epidemics, rather than waiting for Bill to come through and actually make policy changes."

"Yes sir, there are in fact three crew chiefs working in the VAB right now."

"Then get my hat, we're going to pay them a visit."

* * *

When the two arrived at the VAB, its atmosphere was a far cry from the bustling, energized hub it had been three months ago. It did not help that the place felt like a ghost town with half the original workers still there.

The crew chiefs sat on a few discarded boxes in front of Bob and Joliana. The one in front, in charge of Capsule Integration, addressed the two. "To be honest, Mr. Bob, it's a bit of a relief to see you paying us a personal visit. There's been a lot of talk among the workers that upper management has just forgotten about us."

"Is that so?" Bob responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Not only that," another chief, from Propulsion, spoke up. "There's talk you guys want to distance yourself from this department; given what happened with _Uranus_ ," She sighed. "Can't say I blame ya, though."

The third chief, Electrical Subsystems, added to this tale of woe. "That's not all. I heard that you guys have been working pretty closely with Werhner's labs on some of his inventions. Do you know how many stupid gadgets he wants to stick on our rockets?" He gesticulated wildly. "The _Uranus V_ RTG incident is _exactly_ why that's a bad idea. We need more investment in _rocket tech_ , so that we're not forced to cluster out-of-date engines and wind up with overheating issues like on _IX_!"

Joliana frowned. The engineers seemed to be annoyed about a lot of the administration's decisions, but she wasn't sure how much of this was even within Bob's authority to fix.

Bob did not share this uncertainty, it appeared. "Don't you worry. I give you my word I'll look into these issues. In the meantime, I want to ask about the disappearing of our engineering talent. Where _is_ everyone going?"

"I don't know sir, but without much of a goal, no one really knows what to work on anymore. We're pretty hesitant to start work on anything new; remember what happened to Danbro?" Propulsion offered dejectedly.

"Nonsense. Whatever happened to the reason you got into the Program in the first place?"

Electrical stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, now that you mention it, I remember staring up at the sky one night after a long shift at the chemical plant. This was when Werhner's discovery was all over the news, so there was lots of talk about rockets and space travel, that sort of thing. I got to thinking, 'What if I could make a difference? What if I could help explore what's up there?' I think with everything that's happened, I—I sort of lost sight of that goal; this just became another job to me. I think that's probably the same story with a lot of other kerbals as well."

"There we go!" Bob said happily. "Remind your crews of why they wanted to join the Space Program in the first place, and all the things we've done so far. We've put kerbals in _space_ , for Harv's sake, something _unheard_ of five years ago. This is the cutting edge of research and technology, after all." The chiefs were smiling and nodding at these words. Bob continued. "However, the thing about the cutting edge, is sometimes we get cut. What happened with _Uranus IX_ was regrettable, but we need to pick ourselves up and keep moving towards the future! The CKFN certainly hasn't been resting on their laurels the past few months, have they? Let's show them what rocket science looks like when it's done _right_!" He punctuated this final word with a fist thrust into the air.

Some of the surrounding engineers had stopped what they were doing to listen. Listening to Bob's words brought smiles and faraway looks to the kerbals' eyes as they too remembered why they got into the business in the first place. When Bob finished, there were cheers and a general smattering of applause across his small audience.

Capsule Integration shook Bob's hands, his eyes wet with what looked a lot like tears. "Well said, sir. Well said."

Electrical added to this. "I can't promise you miracles, sir, but—but I'll talk to my workers. We'll do our best for the Program."

"That's all I ask," Bob responded. "Now, I have to go; let me know if you have any more issues, all right?"

* * *

Returning to Bob's office, the kerbal sat down at his desk, and turned his attention to Joliana.

"So Joli, what do you think of the engineers' position? Are they ready to start building more rockets?"

Bob rarely asked others for their advice, so Joliana answered warily. "I think your little speech today did revitalize the crews somewhat, but over a longer period, they will lose that motivation and workers will keep leaving the Program."

"Indeed? And how would you propose to fix that?" Bob asked. He appeared to be in a very good mood, he was leaning back in his chair and smiling, two rare characteristics of the kerbal. Joliana continued, she'd oblige him for as long as this mood lasted.

"Well sir, I believe the main problems with the engineers stem from both guilt for the destruction of _Uranus IX,_ and the poor administrative policies enforced on them so far. You took care of some of that guilt, by replacing it with pride, but they will need something to strive for in the long-term. I'm not entirely certain of the specifics of what that should be, though."

"Interesting. And the administrative policies, how would you fix those?"

"Well, I suppose the only real option would be to get Bill to give the engineers more funding, better equipment, larger and more strictly monitored testing setups, _et cetera_. Danbro was only a symptom of a larger problem; we need to fix the lack of support the engineers have been getting at its source, or we'll just get more *Uranus IX*s."

"I agree with you on both counts, Joliana." Bob then raised an eyebrow. "However, we can't exactly just march up to Bill and ask him to change those policies. For one, Bill doesn't even have that authority. Any changes will have to be extensively negotiated with the Board of Directors, as well as making sure the budget is balanced with our accountants, etc. Besides, Bill would have a fit if he knew I was pushing for such dramatic policy changes. No, it will have to be something else."

"Yes sir. If I may, why does Bill seem to dislike you so much? Surely it's not beneficial to the Program if one of its senior members is unable to change its policies?"

"Well, the kerbal's never liked me much to begin with, but with the recent loss of Jebediah and the chaos consuming the Program, I actually think he's afraid I'll take over. That's why he's been assigning me these tiny jobs, in the hopes that it will keep me distracted."

"Well, to be completely honest sir, I've seen the efficiency at which you complete those tasks. I have no doubt that if you put your mind to it, you _could_ replace Bill as Director. And quite frankly, do a much better job at it."

"Thank you for your confidence in me, Joli. I also don't doubt that I could easily take over. But that's not the way I want to go about things. Any old idiot can steal the spotlight—as we are seeing with Bill's performance so far—but it takes far more skill to remain on the edge of the public's eye, carefully staying out of full view, controlling events to be in your favour."

"So is that what we're doing? Manipulating Bill into doing what you want?"

Bob chuckled. "I _suppose_ you could put it that way, but it sounds _much_ better if you say we're giving Bill the 'guidance' to do what's best for the Program."

"Can't argue with that, sir."

"Glad to hear it, Joli." Bob paused for a moment. "Now, do you recall a conversation we had about five months ago? Where you passed on to me your employer's most recent orders?"

Joliana sighed. "As I said at the time, sir, they are not _orders_. As USI's representative in the Program, I have a responsibility to pass on its wishes for paths they wish for the Space Program to follow at some point in the future. As they do not have direct control over the Space Program—your Board of Directors has gone so far as to patent any rocket tech, ensuring their continued dominance in the field—it _is_ only natural they would want to have a bit more input, particularly with the more militarily-oriented applications."

" _United Secret Intelligence_. Not so secret if you keep letting me know you're their representative, now are they?" Bob leaned back, grinning.

"We've been over this. I can't exactly perform my job at maximum efficiency if you do not know the extent of my capabilities. Besides, I require _some_ sort of official agency backing me up; you'd hardly listen to these recommendations if I told you they came from myself alone." Joliana intoned, annoyed.

"All right, Joli." Bob dismissed the explanation, then continued. "As I'm sure you remember, they most recently asked us to create a subset of the Program to launch their own types of missions. As you said, they'd be primarily focused on military applications."

"If I may, sir, why are you bringing this up _now_?"

"Because this is how I'm going to fix the engineers' troubles. They want and need better technology and testing procedures."

Joliana had no idea how this was in any way related, and said as such.

"It's very simple, Joli. Making any direct policy change, such as the ones the engineers want, takes a whole lot of negotiation with accountants, the Board, and many other departments to make sure everything is in order. However, no such negotiation is required to create a _new_ division of the Space Program, provided the necessary funds are already available."

"The only question is, _why_ would you ever want to do something like that," muttered Joliana, still very much confounded by Bob's plan. "Are you seriously considering just putting all the engineers into this new department? Because Bill will most certainly hear about that, and USI won't exactly give much of a choice in terms of missions; it will derail any Munar plans, for example. The suggested subdivision was intended to be an offshoot from the Program, not its replacement."

"What if I told you I wasn't planning on transferring any engineers at all? As your agency will be providing funds, all we have to do is open the Division and request as much as we require from them in equipment costs, wages, and development work. Since this division is an official part of the Program, we could easily transfer those to the VAB."

"So you're not actually planning on building rockets for USI?"

"No. Well, at least not yet. The Program is far too fragmented to work on two major projects at once; our priority _is_ still to beat the CKFN to the Mun."

"So if you're not employing any engineers in this new division, then who _is_ going work there?"

"Simple. I'll take the best of our rocket-focused scientists and technicians from Werhner's labs. The old fellow doesn't know what to do with them all, anyway. The engineers don't want situations like _Uranus IX_ to happen again, yet they want more advanced rocket technology. This division will do rocketry research, as well as testing this new tech to make sure it is safe for the mainstream rockets coming out of the VAB."

"And any technology the VAB doesn't want will go to USI! This satisfies the engineers, the administration, and the agency, all in one. That's–that's genius!" Then Joliana's eyes narrowed. "You can't have come up with this all in the five minutes we've been talking."

Bob's eyes twinkled. "You are correct; I did not." He opened the top left drawer of his desk and withdrew several sheets of paper. Upon them was the early version of an official request to open this new division. "I first had the idea a couple of months ago, based upon your employer's 'recommendation'. From there, I simply tweaked the idea of a separate division to best suit our needs. And there we have it, the salvation of the Space Program. Today's trip to the engineers was to make absolutely sure that they would be totally receptive to this plan."

"And I presume they were?"

"Of course! The engineers are just _begging_ for strong leadership; you saw how they reacted to my little speech in there."

"But I thought you said you didn't like the spotlight?"

"Which is why this division will take the place of a leader. Its designs will propel the engineers forward."

"You sound very confident that this division will produce things of value. What if there's nothing new to learn in rocket science?" While in favour of the scheme, Joliana tried to poke any hole in it she could. If this new division flopped (or was vetoed by Bill), USI would be _very_ annoyed, so Bob had to be prepared for any eventuality.

At this, Bob grinned. "Oh, I have my sources, primarily among those techs in Werhner's labs. They inform me we've barely scratched the surface of the field; giving more priority to their research will unlock technology which will have us walking on the Mun while the CKFN is still floating about in low orbit." Bob had evidently done his homework; he had an answer for every question Joliana threw at him.

Satisfied, Joliana acquiesced. "If you say so, sir." She picked up the papers and scanned them. "In the meantime, how do we go about creating this division?"

"Well, aside from finalizing the document here, all we really need is Bill's signature. The Director's authorization will give us all the clearance we need to open up the new division."

"How on Kerbin are you going to get Bill to approve this? He'll take one look and rip this paper up." She brandished the papers in question. "Looking at some of these terms, you're asking for a great deal of control over the division. If I didn't know you were doing this for USI, I'd think you were starting your own private space program here."

"Which is why I need you to translate it into something a little less readable, preferably full of very long words, so that Bill won't even bother to read it. He's been so busy lately, I'd be surprised if he had time to get through one paragraph."

"Very well sir, I will get right on it."

* * *

Two days later, Joliana approached Bill Kerman outside the Administration Facility. The Director was freshly returned from the capital and looking very tired and harried.

"Mr. Bill! Do you have a spare moment?"

Bill stopped and turned, a long-suffering look on his face and bags under his eyes. "Yes, but I only have a minute or two. What is it?"

"The engineers need authorization to open up a new dedicated testing division of the Space Program. They say it will prevent accidents like the one on _Uranus IX_."

"That sounds like a good plan. How's it being funded? Will I have to talk to the accountants and work out a budget for the division?"

"Actually, no. That's taken care of, as you can see here, on Page 12."

Bill leaned closer, taking a look at the paragraph in question. "Ah yes…I, er, see." The Director was obviously having difficulty deciphering the meaning of the words Joliana had enlisted one of her lawyer contacts to write. Finally having enough, Bill straightened. "Well, I, uh, presume everything else is in order; I'll authorize it. Do you have a pen?"

With a smooth motion, Bill signed the form Joliana and Bob had been working on for the past couple of days. Then, he set off again towards his office, leaving a very pleased kerbal behind.

* * *

Immediately after talking to Bill, Joliana joined Bob in the VAB. A makeshift podium had been set up, and the kerbal was preparing to make a speech to all the engineers, who were gathered together in the main assembly chamber, among various rocket bits and pieces.

With a sense of pride, Joliana spoke. "I'm pleased to report that Bill signed the document, sir. The Advanced Projects Division is now officially authorized. The timing worked spectacularly; Bill was in such a rush that he didn't even read the fine print."

"Not that he would have found anything; your legalese was most impressive. Now, it's time to share the good news with our crowd."

Bob walked to the podium, greeted by cheers from those who remembered his speech a few days ago.

The plan for this speech was to reveal the new division, or the Advanced Projects Division, as it was called. Had Bill had not signed the document, Bob would have had to speak more inspiration for the engineers to continue their work, while frantically drafting an alternate plan to achieve his goals.

"Hello, all!" Bob spoke into the microphone. "I'm pleased to report that myself and my colleagues of the administration have heard your complaints and are in the process of brainstorming solutions as I speak!"

The engineers, already pleased by Bob's return, began cheering louder.

"The first and foremost solution is as follows. As of this moment, the administration is opening the Advanced Project Division, a subset of your work here in the VAB. Its primary focus will be to research and develop new rocket technologies. No longer will you be forced to work with discarded tech from Werhner's labs, or have to do all your testing on your own; this new division will provide everything you need. Now, all you have to do is what you do best: put rockets together!"

The largest cheer yet greeted Bob's words. Joliana smirked. The engineers had been ignored and patronized for so long that they were _overjoyed_ when someone actually listened to their concerns. They would be loyal to Bob for a long, long time.

Honestly, for all that kerbal's talk about not preferring the spotlight, he handled this sort of thing very well. Indeed, Joliana had been surprised when USI had made her the assistant of this seemingly quiet, unassuming kerbal in the Space Program. She'd argued that providing USI's guidance would be a waste and that even if Bob would lack the authority to carry the advice out. However, she was never as happy to be proven wrong as he was today. With the access to space launch facilities and technologies granted by this department, USI would be able to finally mount some sort of defence against the CKFN's military's previously-unrestricted access to space.

Joliana would be keeping a close eye on Bob in the future; the kerbal had nearly single-handedly managed to turn a nearly untenable situation into a win for all parties involved. That sort of skill would be very dangerous if ever directed against her and USI's own interests. Still, a new dawn approached for the Space Program; while a tremendous amount of work still awaited everyone, the USKK was back in the race to the Mun.


	21. Borealis

**CKFN:** Facility for Space Research, Danford's Office  
 _Two Weeks Later_

* * *

Danford leaned back in his desk, watching as the engineer standing in front of him drew the presentation to a close. The kerbal in question was lead engineer on the Space Programme's division working on the _Aurora_ capsule, _Caelus_ ' successor.

Danford reflected on what he'd heard so far. It was really quite remarkable what the team had accomplished; in just over three months, they'd come up with a far more capable and technologically-advanced ship compared to _Caelus_. The engineer's face positively shone with pride at what they'd done as he pointed at a technical diagram of the capsule. Danford liked that, it really showed how dedicated his crew was towards the Programme.

The engineer concluded his speech. "So as you can see sir, _Aurora_ has a completely redesigned thermal cooling system, which can and will prevent any incidents like the one with _Caelus III_ on its Munar trip. Do you have any further questions?"

Danford did. "I noticed that the capsule appears to have two docking ports, one fore and one aft. Are those both going to be functional?"

"Yes sir, the capsule will indeed be able to connect to two spacecraft at once. In fact, we envisioned it as connecting both to the Munar lander as well as a _Janus_ refuelling spacecraft."

"Ah excellent," Danford then glanced at some of the more detailed specifications for the spacecraft. "What's this I see? There's no liquid fuel carried on board?"

"This was a suggestion from one of the Propulsion Engineers; we wanted to make _Aurora_ as safe as possible. So we did away with conventional liquid fuel and oxidizer, and designed the monopropellant in the RCS system to be used for main propulsion as well as fine position control. This will make for a ship which won't detonate if a tank is breached, as well as giving it exceptional long-term capabilities. The fuel will be just as viable two years from now as it is today. Of course, that does come at the cost of reduced delta-v once in orbit."

"That's not too big of a problem," Danford replied. " _Aurora_ should mainly act as a command-and-control vessel for larger spacecraft or carry crew up to low orbit. I don't expect it will have to venture out into deep space on its own. Speaking of which, you mentioned _Janus_ during your presentation. What's the news on the updated version of that vessel?"

"Ah yes, _Janus_ is a very simple craft so it was trivial to simply widen the body to accommodate _Aurora_ 's ventral docking port, as well as fit more fuel as well as an engine on-board. In fact, we have an early version of that ship ready for launch, which can occur as soon as _Jupiter I_ is ready."

"Fantastic. I just heard from Dilbrett that he's planning to launch the _Jupiter I_ prototype within the week, if everything goes well."

"That is excellent news. I think this is everything you need to know about the capsule. I'll get an intern to give you a complete technical readout of our designs."

Danford leaned back in his chair. "That would be much appreciated, thank you. Now, speaking of launch dates, how long do you think the capsule will take to complete?"

The engineer deflated somewhat, losing his earlier good cheer. "Well, sir, that's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Go ahead."

"The Vehicle Assembly Building is proving to be entirely unsuitable for our needs; the facilities simply aren't up to the task of the high-precision work necessary to assemble the capsule. We've tried to outsource as much as possible, but the most we can give you is a simple boilerplate, with only basic systems included."

"Hmm. So basically we can't get to the Mun without better tech?"

"Exactly, sir. There's just no way to build a spacecraft which is rugged enough to get to the Mun and stay there with our current equipment."

"I've been trying for months to get Bilcas to allocate more funds to the Space Program for precisely that reason, but he keeps refusing me. Maybe this news will pressure him into finally coming through for us."

"Hopefully, sir. In the meantime, what would you prefer my team focus on? We could assist Dilbrett's team with the _Jupiter_ prototype, get it to the launchpad a few days ahead of schedule?"

"No, no, your time is better spent elsewhere. Continue working on _Aurora_ , at the very least build the boilerplate, as we can launch _that_. Make sure your team is ready to begin building the capsule as soon as the required facilities become available. When you're through with that, focus on the Munar lander. We're going to want to put a kerbal on the surface, after all."

"Very good sir! I'll let my team know!"

* * *

A few days later, in the VAB, Danford paid a visit to Dilbrett's team. "How goes the _Jupiter_?" the Director called out.

A kerbal in the middle of welding a seam in a rocket engine, face covered by a mask, looked up. Upon seeing Danford, he shut off his torch and lifted the mask. Beneath was Dilbrett's face, smeared with grease. "Hey Danford! Everything's going well, thanks! It's good to see you! Want a coffee?"

Dilbrett pointed at a battered, ancient coffee machine which looked like it predated the Great War. Danford wouldn't have been surprised if it burned _coal_.

"Ah, I'll pass, thanks." He looked up at the body of the prototype _Jupiter I_ , looming large overhead. "I see you're making good progress on the rocket. When's the expected launch date?"

"Shouldn't be much more than a few more days," Dilbrett said, somewhat preoccupied with working his thick welding gloves off his fingers. "The fuel tanks are complete, and once we finalize work on the main engine, she'll be ready to fly!"

Danford took note of the massive engine bell. "That certainly is a main engine. I think I could fit my car in there!"

"Ha! We've taken to calling it the 'Mainsail' around here, the thrust it'll output is comparable to one of the city-states' total power plants' outputs in a year!"

Danford chuckled. "So will this be the final version of _Jupiter_ which will fly, Brett?"

"Not entirely. The rocket you see here is just the final prototype of the _Jupiter I_ lifter. When we launch, it won't even have a second stage on board; it's just to test the engine and to make sure that all systems work properly. 2.5 metre rockets are no joke, after all."

Dilbrett's smile faded as his thoughts obviously turned to the USKK's ill-fated _Uranus IX_. Danford tried to take his mind off the situation by changing the subject.

"So, uh, I heard you guys were planning on making this recoverable?"

Evidently, this was the right thing to say, as the smile returned to the lead engineer's face. "We are! Of course, today's rocket won't be, but there are plans to outfit future rockets with the technology."

"So will it let you land the rocket stages safely?"

"Yes, the initial designs will add landing legs and parachutes to the _Jupiter_ first stages. This should let the stage come back down, be refurbished, and reused on a future launch. This should bring costs down a great deal!"

"That's good to hear. Apparently we're going to need more advanced facilities in order to make it to the Mun with _Aurora_ , so we're going to have to do some major cost-saving efforts around here. Recycling our rockets will be a great way to do that!"

"Cost-saving? You mean we won't be able to replace the coffee machine?"

The machine in question chose that moment to unleash a particularly nasty-sounding gurgle, and belched a cloud of thick, black smoke.

"Ah, well, we'll see about the coffee maker. I may be able to pass its replacement off under 'kerbal rights'."

"Excellent, that's good to hear! I'm beginning to suspect it may be possessed by some sort of demon."

"Really? You believe in that sort of thing? Why that's just-"

The coffee maker let out more smoke, this time emitting a noise which sounded a little too much like a roar.

"I-er-I'll look into it. Good luck on the rocket, Brett!" Danford beat a hasty retreat, making a note to get that coffee maker replaced-or at the very least exorcised-immediately.

* * *

Three days later, Danford grinned as he watched the _Jupiter I_ rocket roll out to the launchpad. Completed at last, the ship shone in the morning sun. For a change, Mission Control wouldn't be monitoring this launch. No complicated payload stood atop this rocket, rather it was Instead, the engineers had the run of the launch controls. This would be as simple as one of the old sounding rocket launches they'd done a year or two ago. Rocket lifts off, rocket reaches highest point, rocket comes down. Simplicity itself.

A shout from the launchpad alerted him that fuelling had completed, and the rocket was nearly ready for takeoff. Soon enough, the ship's umbilical cables disconnected, and it leapt into the air.

 _Leapt_ was perhaps an understatement; the thrust of the main engine was designed to carry both an upper stage _and_ a sizable payload, so its Thrust to Weight ratio was far greater than the rockets Danford had seen launched so far.

In the blink of an eye, it cleared the tower and was on its way to climbing higher than the mountains near the Space Facility. Soon, it was almost too small to see.

Danford looked over to the engineers manning a makeshift Mission Control; a tech kept a radio dish pointed at the rocket, receiving telemetry and performance data from the vehicle. This was displayed on a number of screens all connected together with some unholy tangle of wires. Two engineers monitored the data, and a printer was busily outputting the most important information onto a long strip of paper.

"How's the rocket looking?" the Director asked. One engineer looked up.

"She's performing very well, but the higher acceleration is playing all sorts of havoc with our aerodynamic results. She's barely made 5 klicks and already is at Mach 1!"

The other piped in, not looking up from his monitor. "We're getting a nasty temperature rise on the upper portions of the rocket, I don't think that nose cone's going to last much longer!"

As the tech said that, several numbers went into the red, and suddenly they cut out altogether.

"Well dang, there goes the transceiver, probably fried by the heat. If that's gone, we don't have any control over the ship anymore."

The kerbal pointed up to the sky, where the trail of smoke left by the rocket was now tilting to the left, as the rocket tipped over and began its long fall back to Kerbin. Fortunately, the Space Facility wasn't near any civilian-populated areas.

Danford was somewhat worried by this. "If you lose control authority when things get warm, isn't that bad?"

The second engineer chuckled. "Well yeah, if you wind up going over Mach 2 under 10 klicks, shock heating's going to cook your goose for sure. With an actual payload underneath, there's no way we'll reach those speeds that early into the flight."

The first tech showed Danford the long strip of output numbers. "Look at these thrust and temperature readings on the Mainsail itself! Gorgeous!"

Danford thought that the numbers looked rather like random values, but he smiled and _mhmm_ 'd at the kerbal. Still, if the engineer was happy, Danford was happy.

He walked away, adding elements to his mental checklist. Now that the launcher was well on its way to completion, all the Space Programme needed was to build _Aurora_ , and design a Munar lander system. The Mun drew ever closer, and with the USKK out of the picture, his workers had the luxury of time and being able to double-check their work.

They were making excellent progress; he had no doubts that one day soon the CKFN would land a kerbal on the Mun.


	22. Return of the Jeb-i

**USKK:** Space Center, Bob Kerman's Office  
 _One Month Later_

* * *

"…and as you can see, sir, the Advanced Projects Division is fully staffed and working at optimum efficiency. However, they have yet to actually produce anything of value."

"As I said, Joli, give them time. Aerospace developments don't happen overnight!"

Joliana's jaw set. "With all due respect, now that the CKFN has proven they have a 2.5 meter launch vehicle, it may be best to re-task the division to focus primarily on a wide-bodied lifter of our own." She picked up a grainy surveillance photograph and waved it around to punctuate her point.

She sighed. "Perhaps you could get them to dig up the _Uranus IX_ specifications, focus on solving the first-stage overheating issues?"

Bob was adamant. "Give them time. _Uranus IX_ was a rush job, built just to beat the CKFN to the Mun. It failed. The techs need to take things slowly and make sure they don't miss any rocket designs which could be more efficient than the current ones."

"Very well sir." Joliana grumbled. She pulled another paper out of the stack she was carrying. "In other news, it looks like there are still complaints about lack of direction from the Space Center staff, though those have decreased substantially from the engineers. In my opinion, sir, we need to get Bill to decide what the Space Program should focus on."

"What's the mood in the capital? With those government observers finally gone, maybe Bill will want to finally focus on the Program? Then again, he's been over there for a good week now. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that something big's going down."

"I'm afraid I don't know, sir. I'm a field agent first and foremost; the politics going on in Kolus City are no concern of mine."

"Huh. Well, whatever it is, it's been consuming a great deal of Bill's time. In fact…" Bob's face drew into a wide grin, the one Joliana associated with one of his schemes.

 _Oh no,_ she thought to herself. _What does he have planned now?_ "Sir?"

"It may be time to take a little vacation."

"A…vacation?" Whatever it was Joliana expected to come out of Bob's mouth, it was certainly not this.

"Yes, but not to the Dazian Beaches. I'll have need for your skills; I'm planning to go hunting for a certain kerbal, one who can tie ."

"And that kerbal would be…?" The question was almost redundant, as she realized there was only one possible answer.

"Jebediah Kerman," was Bob's response, and Joliana sighed, suspicions confirmed.

" _With all due respect—_ " Before she could commence her rant on why bringing back Jebediah was a _terrible idea_ , Bob cut her off.

"I know what you're going to say; his policies caused the death of three kerbals, chaos in the engineering department, and put us seriously behind in the space technology race with the CKFN."

"You are correct, sir." Those three topics were _precisely_ what Joliana was going to mention.

"Which is why I want to bring Jeb back, but in an advisory role only. You can't deny the kerbal had _vision_! His plans and ideas brought us to dominate Low Kerbin Orbit for nearly a year, doing research which is still bearing fruit for scientists here on Kerbin."

"Then launch more kerbals into orbit. It doesn't take Jebediah to tell you that."

"The game has changed, Joli. Jeb's got more imagination than the entire administration of this Program, and we're going to need that if we want to beat the CKFN to the Mun, especially with their advantages over us so far."

Joliana massaged her forehead. "All right. _Suppose_ Jebediah would be an asset to the Program, rather than the liability he's proven to be. How do you propose to find him? He's dropped completely off the map."

"I have a few ideas, the first and foremost his old hometown. There's bound to be someone there who he's talked to recently."

"You do realize you don't require me if all you want to do is talk to Jeb's old friends, correct?"

"Well, I do require your connections. Bill's likely to be back within a few days, and I need to get up north quickly. Do you happen to know of any jets I could borrow?"

She sighed. "I do know of a craft or two I could borrow for a day or two. But I doubt you know how to fly one, they're fairly new technology."

Bob bowed his head, conceding that much. "You are correct, I can't fly a plane. Besides, I have a bit of an…issue…with heights. Perhaps you could chauffeur me? You _are_ my personal assistant, after all."

"I suppose so, sir." While Joliana grumbled externally, she was secretly glad for this opportunity. She quite enjoyed flying the new prototype jet planes USI had been developing, and this would be an excellent opportunity to get away from the dullness of her duties here at the Space Center.

"Excellent, let me know when you have it ready, I have a few last-minute arrangements to make. The sooner we leave, the better the chance we get back before Bill returns."

"Yes sir."

* * *

 **USKK:** Kolus City, Legislative Buildings, Prime Minister's Office  
 _Three Hours Later_

* * *

Bill Kerman leaned forward in disbelief. "So what is it you're saying, sir?"

The Prime Minister of the USKK leaned back in his seat. "I am saying that Parliament was not satisfied with the governmental investigators' reports."

"But I've worked to include their suggestions over the past few months into Space Program policy! That's the entire reason I've been here so often over the last few months."

"Now, don't get me wrong. I appreciate your cooperation with the government regarding the policy changes, but there is a subset of Parliament which thinks that more extreme measures are needed."

"And those extreme measures are to put the Space Program under government control."

"Yes. Bill, I know the independent Program has covered a lot of ground over the past few years and done wonderful things for science and public inspiration, but to be honest, Parliament has lost faith."

"What? After a single accident?"

The Prime Minister sighed. "It's not just that. Look, Bill, we've been seeing diminishing returns from the Program. Your most recent missions haven't given much of a technological advantage or done as much useful science as the initial ones. My colleagues and I believe that greater good can be accomplished by beating the CKFN on the home front, rather than trying to explore a new frontier."

Bill's shoulders slumped. "Surely public opinion counts for something? The people are incredibly enthusiastic about the Program!"

"Not particularly. The most recent public opinion polls reveal that the explosion of _Uranus IX_ —the debris killed nineteen civilians, thank Harv it wasn't more—has made the public far more worried about the impact that space travel has on both themselves as kerbals, and on the nation itself. I daresay very few kerbals will go out to watch the next rocket launch."

Bill conceded the point. "You've stated Parliament's worries. What are these increased governmental controls?"

The Prime Minister passed a sheet of paper over the desk to Bill. "As you can see, the document—Bill UK-67—outlines the transition towards a government-overseen space agency. The Director—which is you, of course—will be replaced with a governmental-chosen candidate who will answer directly to Parliament, and the Program's funding will also be overseen by that body. Naturally, you are free to continue working with the Program, just not as its Director."

Bill kept reading. "What's this at the bottom? You're restricting launch sizes? This would prevent the Program from launching anything but tiny probes! Correction, tiny probes to _low orbit_!"

"Ah yes, an excellent suggestion from one of my colleagues. There was a great deal of concern over the _Uranus IX_ explosion, and many in Parliament feared that more kerbals would be at risk if there existed additional, less obvious, flaws in the engineering work or policies. This size and payload restriction will let any unforeseen kinks work their way out."

"But this puts us completely out of the race for the Mun! The CKFN will surely beat us there if we're stuck launching tiny payloads!"

The Prime Minister raised an eyebrow. "Bill, I believe your Program is operating under the impression that the USKK is desperately competing with the CKFN in space. While they have admittedly made some progress there, their achievements have merely matched your own. This government believes that effort should be spent on beating the CKFN in more functional applications, such as economic dominance, or militarily. Your Program should be focused on that as well, rather than attempting to send kerbals straight for the Mun, which is as far as our scientists can tell, a featureless rock."

"So that's it? The Program is finished?"

"I wouldn't say it's _finished_. The Bill is still in its early stages, and Parliament will not vote on it for a few months. I'm informing you of its existence now to give you time to let go of non-essential staff, gear down production, and prepare for a successor."

"You mean the Bill isn't in effect yet? There's a chance to stop it?"

At this, the Prime Minister let out a sigh. "No. Bill, this— _ahem_ —bill is a near-certainty in my books. I highly advise against trying to fight this; all it will do is tarnish your reputation further."

Bill stood up. "Very well. I suppose we're done here."

As Bill walked towards the door, the Prime Minister spoke. "Bill, don't get me wrong, I admire what you managed to do these past few years. But this nation needs to stand _together_ against the CKFN, not be divided over the Space Program."

Bill left the office. Regardless what the Prime Minister said, he was going to fight this bill. The Space Program couldn't be snuffed out that easily!

* * *

 **USKK:** Tenby, Jebediah Kerman's hometown  
 _One day later_

* * *

With a practised hand, Joliana set the aircraft she'd procured down on the cracked tarmac of a back lot. She suspected that a town as small as this wouldn't get much air traffic, particularly a cutting-edge Vertical Take Off and Landing design. She just hoped it was out of the way enough.

"Where did you have in mind for searching for Jebediah, sir?" she asked as the two exited the vessel.

"I thought we'd walk around and get to know the place, see if anyone knows of Jeb, then take it from there. We're in no real rush, Bill's not due back from the capital for a few days."

As it turned out, finding information about Jeb was less difficult than they'd initially thought. The town appeared to be proud of their famous kerbal, and most kerbals they talked to had some anecdote or another about Jeb. However, it wasn't until they met the local general store owner when they found information of value.

"Ah, Jeb! You know, he's a bigwig at the Space Program now! I did so enjoy watching those rockets go up on the TV—except for that most recent one. 'Tis a pity. Ah, I remember when Jeb still lived here though, must have been, oh, twenty, twenty-five years ago? He used to pop down to the store for snacks every weekend! Ah, that was before the Great War, you know, I nearly had to shut down the store during that conflict! Terrible for business, that was."

"Yes, ah, I can imagine. Do you know if Jeb has been back in town recently? We're looking for him; he left the Space Program nearly four months ago." asked Bob, clearly a little impatient with this kerbal's stories.

"Huh, well I can't recall Jeb being back in town recently; he'd surely have come by to visit me! But if you want to know more about where Jeb might be, I'd check with Valentina. She's an old flame of his; they were close for a while a few years ago."

"Hmm, do you have any idea how we could get in touch with her?"

"I think she's one of them fancy new fighter jet pilots now, but I just heard she's back in town. You can probably find her at the bar down the street, to tell you the truth. But what's this about Jeb not being with the Program any more?"

Joliana could see that Bob had no desire to continue the conversation now that he had the information he needed. So she quickly intervened. "I'm afraid we don't have much time, and have to run. Thank you for your cooperation!"

* * *

The bar the shopkeeper mentioned was a quiet affair, certainly no wretched hive of scum and villainy like what Joliana was expecting. Evidently the locals preferred their drinks in peace. Still, she must be cautious. Entering, Bob made his way to the barkeeper, a heavyset kerbal cleaning out some glasses. Joliana followed, keeping her eye out for trouble.

"Excuse me," Bob asked. "Is Valentina Kerman here tonight?"

The barkeeper made an affirmative-sounding grunt and jerked a thumb towards a corner booth. Bob thanked the kerbal and the two made their way over to the table.

Upon reaching it, Bob spoke. "Valentina Kerman, I presume?"

"Who's asking?" came the response. The kerbal appeared uninterested. "Look, whatever it is you want, I probs won't be able to give it to ya, my squadron's shipping out tomorrow morning."

"Don't worry. All I need is information. On one certain Jebediah Kerman."

At this, Valentina raised an eyebrow. "Jeb? Jeez, I haven't spoken to _him_ in years. Why are you asking me, by Mu? Isn't he some sort of bigwig at the Space Program now?"

Bob slipped into the seat opposite Valentina. "Yes, up to about four months ago. He's vanished off the map, and we're trying to find him. I've been told you were close to him…do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

The other kerbal's eyes narrowed. "Before I go telling you Jeb's life story, mind if I ask just who you are? I'm a bit of the suspicious type, you know."

Bob chuckled. "Hey Joli, looks like we've found you a kindred spirit!" Leaning up against a wall and scanning the crowd for trouble, the secret agent narrowed her eyes, unamused. "Regardless, I'm Bob Kerman, co-founder of the USKK Space Program. This here is my assistant, Joliana."

Valentina leaned back in her chair. "Ah, so _you're_ Bob. I recall Jeb mentioning you a couple times. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. So, how about it? Any idea where Jeb may have gone?"

Valentina's brow wrinkled. "Well, I can't tell you much for certain, but I do know he's got a cabin up in the northern woods. You used to only be able to get to it by hiking, but nowadays I'm sure you can just fly there, though you might have a bit of a time landing your plane! I'll give you the coords if you want to check the place out."

"We'll manage, and the coordinates would be most helpful, thank you."

"Yeah, I'm not sure why you'd need them again, 'specially after your guys asked me about this a few weeks ago. Maybe they got lost, heh?" She scribbled down some numbers on the back of a napkin.

"Our guys?" asked Bob.

"Yeah, the big dudes with weird accents. Said they were from the Space Program too."

At this, Joliana's eyes widened, coming to a realization. She caught hold of Bob's sleeve. "Excuse me, sir, but we need to leave."

Looking around, Bob looked like he was about to protest, but thought better of it when he saw the look in Joliana's eyes.

"Ah, very well. Thank you for the information, Valentina. I'll say hi to Jeb for you when we see him."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" The pilot turned her attention back to her drink.

Outside, Bob turned to Joliana. "Do you mind telling me what that was all about?"

She didn't turn around, but kept walking quickly towards where they'd parked the aircraft. "The CKFN."

"Were there agents in the bar? I didn't see…"

"No, they were the ones who talked to Valentina!"

"You sure? It could have been just a couple of concerned citizens, looking for the founder of the Space Program."

"Think about it, your rival's space program's leader just up and quits after a rocket blows up. If I was the CKFN, I would spend all my efforts determining his whereabouts. An opportunity like this would be too good to pass up, if you ask me."

Bob had caught up to her now. "You don't mean that Jeb's…in danger from these agents?"

Her face darkened. "I don't know. But we need to get to that cabin before they do."

Shooing away a couple of small children who were enamoured by the plane's sleek lines, she climbed in the cockpit and began the engine start-up sequence, before rocketing into the sky and towards the provided coordinates.

* * *

 **USKK:** Jeb's Summer Cabin, Northern USKK  
 _Two hours later_

* * *

Eyeing the terrain below, Joliana glanced over her shoulder. "We're less than five kilometers out, sir. I suggest you strap in; this could be a rough landing."

Nervously peering out at the endless expanse of trees, Bob did as she asked. "Doesn't look like any clearings ahead. Is this plane strong enough to survive a landing on top of a tree?"

"Theoretically." This did not appear to calm Bob's nerves, already appeared to be on edge due to the height. "I imagine the cabin has some sort of clearing around it, though."

To Joliana's relief (and likely Bob's as well), the cabin did indeed have a patch of grass surrounding it, flat and wide enough to serve as a makeshift landing pad. She brought the plane down once more as smooth as a feather, though she did catch a wing on one of the surrounding trees' branches. Hopefully the paint wasn't scratched, or she'd never hear the end of it back at USI.

After exiting the plane, Joliana crept carefully up to the cabin, sitting serenely on top of a rise in the grass. She motioned Bob to get down behind a rock.

"You can't possibly think those CKFN agents got here first, now do you? We were going so fast in that plane I thought it was going to split in half!"

"Bob, they've had weeks to get here. Even on foot, it's not too far from the nearest town."

"Well, it doesn't look like anyone's here."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Joliana said darkly. If the agents had already come and gone and encountered Jebediah—, well, Bob's plan to breathe more life into the Space Program would very quickly fall apart. "Let's move up."

The two crept closer to the cabin, and Joliana tried the door. "Locked."

"Good or bad sign?" asked Bob.

"Not sure, give me a second and I'll get this open," she said, pulling a custom-built lockpick from her utility belt and reaching for the lock. It was an old-fashioned single-tumbler design and she unlocked it easily enough.

As the door opened, a wave of dust poured out. Bob looked like he was about to begin a coughing fit, but he put a hand over his mouth and stepped to the side, suppressing it. Joliana held her breath and ventured into the cabin. It didn't take her long to conclude Jebediah wasn't there. In fact, it didn't look like anyone had lived there for years, based upon the lack of personal belongings and several-centimetre-thick layer of dust that lay over everything.

Bob walked in. "Well— _ahem_ —it looks like Jeb didn't come back to his cabin after all. By Max, where could he be?"

"Not sure. Any more ideas as to places to look for him?"

"There might be another place he could be at, but it's hard to say if it'll be another wild goose chase or not."

"I'll take any lead over no lead," Joliana said as she walked back outside. Then she froze. A tall kerbal dressed in hiking clothes stood outside, about halfway down the hill. He spoke crisply, in a clear CKFN accent.

"Ah, hello there! Do either of you chaps happen to know where one might find a certain Jebediah Kerman? We were told this cabin belonged to him."

Joliana drew her service pistol and levelled it.

"Put your hands up, Confederate scum."

The CKFN spy, for his credit, did not freeze, but leaped behind several rocks in one swift, fluid movement. That didn't stop Joliana from letting off several shots, but their only effect was to send a few rock chips flying.

"We're going, Bob!" she yelled at the kerbal still inside the cabin. A second or two later, Bob emerged, half-covered in dust. He looked like he dove to the floor the second he'd heard gunfire. _Smart._

From behind the rocks, she could hear the CKFN agent speaking into his wrist radio. "Nox 2, I've come under fire from enemy units at the cabin, repeat, hostiles engaged."

Knowing the agent was calling for backup, Joliana grabbed Bob by the collar and took off running for the plane. She managed to get a few shots off, but unfortunately didn't hit anything. Still, it stopped the agent from returning fire.

Finally, the two reached the aircraft. Joliana shoved Bob up the ladder, and quickly followed. She wasted no time with pre-flight checklists, but rather fed fuel to the engines (still warm from their landing not ten minutes earlier) and shoved the throttle forward. The aircraft's vertical-facing engines roared to life, scorching the grass underneath.

When the aircraft had cleared the treetop, Joliana immediately spooled up the main jet engines, shoving them both back in their seats as the plane accelerated away. She could see Bob's knuckles turning white as he desperately clutched his seat's armrests.

Finally, putting some distance between them and the agents, she let out the breath she'd been holding. She turned to Bob.

"Confirmation of CKFN agents operating here is _definitely_ something USI should know about. I'm going to need to call this in. Mind getting in the back while I call?"

"Sure. I imagine you want to know where we're headed next first, though?"

"Right. You said you had an idea to where Jebediah may have gone?"

"Yes. A year or two back, Jeb wanted to open up an airbase on one of the islands north of the Space Center. He intended it to be a hub of shipping and transportation. He even started spending a lot of time up there, flying back and forth himself in an early-model aircraft."

"So is that airbase still there?"

"Yeah, but it never proved to be financially viable. The Space Program's funders wrote it up as a loss and the place was shut down. I can't imagine why Jeb would want to go there, but it's the place with the next-closest connection I can think of."

"All right, I'll set a course for the airbase now."

* * *

 **USKK:** Space Center, Bill Kerman's Office  
 _Four hours later_

* * *

Bill watched shadows outside getting longer and longer as the sun set.

He sighed. What could he do? From where he was sitting, the government was right. The Space Program _was_ divided, unfocused, and would probably not make it to the Mun before the CKFN regardless. He'd recently seen some improvement, particularly with the engineers, but it was almost certainly too little, too late. In a few months, the Space Program would be over.

Not for the first time in recent days, he found himself wondering what Jeb would have done, if he was around. Then, he cursed himself for thinking of that kerbal. It was _Jeb_ who was responsible for all this. His policies, his apathy towards proper safety procedures, and then dumping the whole Program's responsibility onto Bill at the first sign of trouble.

Again, Bill sighed. _If only that blasted rocket hadn't blown up_. He'd tried his best to keep the Program together in the aftermath of _Uranus IX_ , but he just wasn't cut out for the job of Director. No matter how much direction he'd tried to give the Program, it never seemed to be enough. There was always more work to be done, another governmental investigator to satisfy, another document which required his signature.

 _Maybe this is for the best, though,_ he thought, as the sun disappeared over the horizon, shrouding his office in darkness.

* * *

 **USKK:** Jebediah Kerman's Personal Retreat  
 _Five hours later_

* * *

"This is it."

"It appears the runway is not in terrible shape, I'll land conventionally." Joliana brought the plane down and taxied towards the main aircraft hangers. "Where do you expect to find Jebediah?"

Bob scratched his chin. "There's a series of old administration buildings further inland, but let's first check the aircraft hangers. Jeb's always loved planes."

The plane came to a stop, and the two exited, approaching the largest of the hangers. Before they got halfway there, a voice stopped them.

"Hello, Bob."

A lone figure emerged from the base's aircraft control tower, and walked toward Bob and Joliana. It was Jebediah Kerman, looking tired and scruffy, with week-old stubble and large bags under his eyes.

"Jeb, it's good to see you! How have you, ah, been?" Bob said, quite happily.

The former Director took a moment to reply. "I've…been getting by. Why did you come here?"

"Jeb, I'm going to be honest with you. We need you back at the Space Program."

With this, Jebediah turned away. "Didn't you hear me after _Uranus IX_ exploded? I'm done. Done with killing kerbals and done with space."

"I don't believe that for a second. What happened to the optimistic kerbal who believed in the Space Program? Who believed we could make a difference in the world? Who believed we could explore space peacefully, and for the betterment of all of Kerbin?"

"He's gone, Bob."

Joliana smiled to herself. Having witnessed the inspirational speeches Bob liked to whip up, she had a feeling this would be an entertaining exchange. Meanwhile, Jeb continued his self-pitying spiel.

"After _Uranus IX_ exploded, I saw first-hand what _I_ had done to the Space Program, and I hated myself for it. I can't go back. I stay here, and wander this base. The empty hangers remind me of my penance, and I must stay here to live through it."

Joliana suppressed another smile. _Really?_ That sort of thing sounded like what an adolescent would write into their diary while trying to be all 'deep' and insisting to their mother that 'this wasn't a phase'. She deeply hoped Bob would put some sense into the kerbal, because she was on the verge of speaking up herself.

"C'mon, Jeb. If you feel like you committed a crime, turn yourself in, go to jail. Don't wander around an abandoned airbase for three-and-a-half months! Don't beat yourself up over _IX_ , it was as much Danbro's fault as yours."

Jeb's shoulders slumped. "Maybe—maybe you're right, but how can I help the Program any more? I drove it straight into the ground."

"I'm damn sure I'm right, otherwise I wouldn't even be here! Jeb, you're a _fantastic_ asset to the Space Program. "

"I'm no Director. You saw first-hand the results of my policies."

"Maybe so, but you can't deny that your imagination and drive led us to soundly beat the CKFN to low orbit, and we very nearly beat them to the Mun as well!"

Joliana saw Jeb smile. It was a very faint smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"That's…that's true."

"By Harv, it's true!"

"But I caused _Uranus IX_. The kerbals at the Space Center and across the USKK won't accept me back."

"You'd be surprised as to what can be forgiven, Jeb. And besides, there's one more reason why we need you back at the Space Program."

Joliana saw Bob pull a photograph out of his pocket and show it to Jeb. By that kerbal's reaction, she could tell exactly what photograph it was: the CKFN's _Jupiter_ rocket from earlier. She'd have to liberate that from Bob at some point, classified information like that _certainly_ did not belong out in the field.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Jeb, dumbfounded.

"It sure is. The CKFN launched a 2.5 meter rocket without any issues. Now do you see why we need you back? If the CKFN makes it to the Mun first, they'll establish a massive lead in space travel. Who knows what they'll find up there? Maybe the new territory will give them the confidence to declare war on the USKK and wipe us all out!"

Jeb snorted, then smiled a little bit more. "Don't you think that's just a bit unreasonable?"

"Maybe, but who really knows what's up up there? Besides, keeping the CKFN from establishing a monopoly over space travel will be good for everyone."

"Hah! You think they'd start selling meteor chunks or something?"

"At ridiculously steep prices, no doubt." Bob started chuckling, and Jeb joined in.

The former Director broke into a full smile. "You don't know how good it feels to laugh again. Maybe I really have been gone for too long. Bob, tell your assistant to fire up that jet of yours. I'm coming back to the Space Center!"

Bob grinned. "That's good, I wasn't going to leave until you said yes, you know. Wasn't looking forward to what you do for sleeping arrangements here…"


	23. Democracy

**CKFN:** Space Facility, Danford's Office  
 _Two Days Later_

* * *

Danford leaned back in his chair. The term was nearly up for the CKFN's current President, and the entire country was preparing for the elections next week. With _Jupiter_ coming along on schedule, a boilerplate of _Aurora_ nearly finished, and work beginning on the Munar lander, Danford didn't have a whole lot to do. Thus, he sat idly in his spartan office, watching one of the most recent presidential debates on a small television set an intern had brought in.

So far, nothing terribly exciting had occurred, unless one counted the various insults the candidates spouted off at one another, of course.

All three candidates stood on a stage erected in some small town in the middle of the CKFN, bickering about today's topic. The candidate furthest to the left hailed from a more conservative-leaning political party, who strongly believed that altogether too much information was flowing between the USKK and CKFN, far more than should be tolerated (they were _enemies_ after all, they had insisted), and demanded a complete border shutdown and an overall isolationist policy on the world stage.

The second candidate was more liberal, and believed that some trade should be opened between the two great powers, arguing that the CKFN could dominate the USKK economically, particularly if more attention was paid to upgrading and modernizing industrial sections in the southern half of the country. Unsurprisingly, this candidate hailed from that region, and no doubt had several kerbals with a great deal of self-interest in the region supporting his candidacy.

However, the final candidate was far more interesting to Danford. She spoke little of international relations, but was an enthusiastic supporter of the Space Programme. She found a way to bring up the subject nearly every debate she spoke in, and stressed that rather than attempting to out-compete the USKK on the Kerbin itself, the CKFN should do so in the skies above, by establishing a permanent kerballed presence in orbit. She empathized that the Space Programme was the way to the future of the CKFN, by research and developing new technologies, as well as exploring new worlds. Needless to say, she'd be getting Danford's vote.

Unfortunately, today's debate was about as far from the topic of space exploration as one could get, as the candidates were arguing whether or not current cabbage import legislation was too strict, too lenient, or should be abolished altogether. Wild tales of cabbage smugglers had been circulating around the CKFN for a few months now, of kerbals attempting to dodge the expensive import fees by making tremendous journeys across kilometres of open desert with their wares. Of course, more often than not, these tales were pure fiction or highly exaggerated, but the fact remained that the import fees were quite high, and there existed a significant demand for the goods.

To Danford, each candidate had entirely too strong of an opinion upon these cabbages, and he sorely wished they'd actually get back to talking about subject matter which did not cause their viewers to fall asleep (as most of the audience onscreen appeared to be napping). But the debates went on, for better or for worse. Finally, when Danford was on the verge of switching the television off altogether, his desk's telephone rang. Thrilled to have some form of distraction, he grabbed the receiver.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end was deep and gruff and belonged to General Geoffnard. "Danford. I need you to come to the capital as soon as you can. The President has called an important Advisory Council meeting."

Danford's brow furrowed. "The President called the meeting? His term ends in three days, what's there to be said?"

"Circumstances have, ah, conspired to require a meeting. Listen, I can't brief you further over the phone—USKK spies could be listening—so get to the Capital. Immediately."

Glancing at the television, Danford saw that the cabbages debate was still in full swing. Compared to this, the mystery Advisory Council meeting would be heaven. "Sure thing, General," he responded, and hung up.

* * *

 **CKFN:** Advisory Council Chambers, CKFN Capital  
 _One Hour Later_

* * *

As Danford walked into the Council room, he saw the other members were already seated. There was Bilcas, glaring at his watch; Bilfrod, shuffling papers nervously; the General, sitting ramrod-straight in his chair; and finally, the soon-to-be-former-President of the CKFN, seated at the head of the table and looking like he would much rather be at home enjoying a nice cup of tea.

"Now that everyone's arrived, we can begin," the General began. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Within several hours, this event will be all over the news, but I need to get the President's opinion as soon as possible."

Bilcas grunted. "I'm not particularly sure why you insisted on us all being here; surely if it's a matter for the President, it can be solved via personal communication?"

Geoffnard grimaced. "Not exactly. I feel getting _everyone's_ opinion would give us an advantage in this situation. To be frank, two hours ago, the USKK invaded the sovereign state of Malentia."

You could hear a pin drop. Danford's mind was reeling. Peace had reigned supreme for the last twenty-four years on Kerbin, why was the USKK spoiling that with a Max-damned _invasion_? "You can't be serious," he found himself blurting out. "Would—would this mean a repeat of the Great War?"

"I'm afraid the situation is all too serious, but we may yet avoid war." responded the General. He unfurled a map of the region, southeast of the USKK. Additionally, Geoffnard had marked upon the map diagonal lines which showed the extent of the USKK's invasion, enveloping the entire country of Malentia.

"Allow me to explain the background on this area for those unfamiliar." Danford saw the General glance towards him, and narrowed his eyes. No doubt the General was rolling out the history lesson because he was present. Danford wasn't an _idiot_ , for Harv's sake, he remembered just as well as any kerbal what had gone on during the War.

Geoffnard began. "In the aftermath of the Great War, the full extent of the Malentian Isthmus was promised to the USKK in return for its liberation of several nation-states. However, the signing of the Treaty of Okheka in the final days of the war froze the borders of both the USKK and CKFN, and forbid either from adding more territory in the future, essentially nullifying this promise. The Treaty was signed to avoid precisely this sort of preying on the weaker nation-states, which I'm sure you all can recall was one of the primary causes of the War."

The General's eyes darkened. "In the event of such a breach of the Treaty, it called for the other nation to declare war upon the aggressor, in defense of the smaller nation. This was written in the hopes of forcing the other to back down. Ideally, this threat of mutual warfare would discourage either side from even _trying_ to break the Treaty. Unfortunately, the USKK has evidently decided that the Treaty no longer applies to them, and has moved troops into Malentia."

He passed some grainy, black-and-white photographs across the table, clearly showing USKK tanks doing battle with an unidentified militia-type force. The President looked at them and sighed heavily.

"Has the USKK declared a _casus belli_? Do they have any sort of justification for this attack?"

"None officially, but I believe this was a diplomatic annexation gone bad. Malentia's leaders have long sought to join the USKK, but dissident factions may have started riots and popular movements against the current governing body, which led to the images you see here."

"Regardless of intent, the USKK still violated international law. I presume you called me in here to ask whether we will declare war in Malentia's defense?"

"That was indeed the purpose of this meeting, sir."

Again, the President sighed. "I can't condemn the nation to war, then leave office three days later. Nor will my successor have an easy time of it; the government typically takes _months_ to reorganize when a new President enters office. It appears the USKK has lucked out in their timing of this invasion."

"Not luck, sir," the General stated. "The details of our elections are not exactly private, I believe it was very precise timing on their part which led to this invasion happening now, when they _know_ we are unable to respond quickly."

The President massaged his temples. "So what are our options, then? Do we declare war? I was under the impression that most of the military is currently either disbanded or off patrolling the borders, and it would take a great deal of time to organize the forces." The President continued. "I suppose declaring war immediately, then taking some time to send an attack isn't out of the question."

Danford sat in disbelief. While certainly not eager about the whole thing, the President was discussing declaring a war which would undoubtedly consume most of the planet once again. And he did so while looking _annoyed_. Danford had always imagined a certain gravitas was present when discussing such matters, but he supposed reality never really did match up with what one saw in the movies, did it?

The General was now pacing at the front of the room. "Sir, if the USKK so wished, they could invade _us_ during that interim period and force our surrender. Recent intelligence reports show that they have conducted alarmingly extensive modernizations and upgrades to their military, and I believe have the potential to strike a devastating blow against our nation."

"Surely they aren't so stupid as to _attack_ us? It would take them weeks just to cross our defensive lines!"

"Sir, based upon the intelligence we have, their modern tanks can cover a great deal of ground, and can concentrate a great deal of firepower on a single point. Static defenses won't last long against the USKK's armies. Also, there is the matter of aircraft, whose military application is still poorly understood, but which could easily overwhelm us."

The President was silent. "So what is it you're saying? We don't declare war?"

"As always, the final decision is up to you, sir, but my recommendation is to allow the USKK to continue. Entering a war which the defender _wants_ to lose with an unprepared military is just not strategically sound. Besides, it _has_ been over twenty years since the Treaty, and one could argue that it may need some readjustments based upon the events which have occurred over the past two decades. Naturally, I recommend condemning the USKK at our earliest opportunity; they should certainly not get away with this scott-free."

"I agree, Geoffnard, thank you," the President stated. Around the table, Danford could see the other council members nodding their heads in agreement. He continued. "Does anyone else have an opinion on this development?"

Bilcas cleared his throat. "If we are to let this incident go without taking military action, well it sets a bit of a precedent, doesn't it?"

Evidently confused by Bilcas' vague statement, the General responded angrily. "A precedent for future invasions by the USKK?"

"Not necessarily. If the Treaty of Okheka is truly null and void, why _any nation_ could then annex its neighbors…if it so wished, of course." Bilcas clarified, smiling in a bit of a conspiratorial manner.

"…I see," remarked the General. "This will no doubt have to be more clearly defined in the future, though. Thoughts on the Finance Minister's words, sir?" he asked, turning to the President, who was looking thoughtful.

Standing up, the President responded. "All I can say is I believe the CKFN's current borders to be sufficient for our prosperity. A re-evaluation of those will have to be a question to ask my successor. Now, if that's everything, I very much wish to get home. It's been altogether too long of a term in office."

* * *

 **CKFN:** Front Steps of Legislative Buildings, CKFN Capital  
 _Four Days Later_

* * *

Danford stood in the centre of the CKFN's capital, in front of the main governmental buildings, where a cheering crowd had gathered. Fortunately, he was not speaking to them today, giving as many speeches as he'd had for the Space Programme had made him rather sick of the whole thing. Still, today's speech would certainly be interesting, though the content of the speech did not nearly interest him as much as the speaker herself, or rather what her future policies hopefully would contain.

As Adming Kerman, the space-loving Presidential candidate had won the election, not quite by a landslide, but by a significant margin which evidently reflected the public's enthusiasm for space travel. He smiled. It must mean he was doing a pretty good job at the Programme, if the public voted for a candidate who promised to make advancements in that area!

She began to speak, reciting grand words no doubt memorized the night before, but still impressive. For the most part though, it was a pretty generic 'thank you for electing me' speech, but the last few segments caught his interest.

"For as you all know, in a vile and despicable move, the USKK has invaded the sovereign state of Malentia with overwhelming force, and we are unable to intervene. We can only condemn them for such a shameful act of destroying the twenty-three-year peace we all have worked so hard to maintain since the Great War!"

At this condemnation of their rival nation, the audience let out a cheer. Danford suspected that this didn't mean much; if the President got them riled up enough, the crowd would probably cheer for anything. Still, there was something to be said about the national pride the President was inspiring. The previous President never was one for grand speeches and usually preferred to work on things such as cabbage legislation, much less visible or accessible to the public.

"Indeed, our great nation is focused upon greater achievements, ones which will bring the CKFN into the future! Take Danford Kerman here, his crew at the Space Programme are reaching for the very stars themselves, reaching to bring us all a better tomorrow!"

Again, the crowd went wild, and Danford gave a little wave, once again amazed by the positive opinion of the Space Programme. One would expect that kerbals would be distrustful of his agency after the USKK demonstrated the deadly consequences of rocket failure, but these kerbals didn't seem to be thinking about that at all. Truly, understanding public opinion was a more difficult task than rocket science.

As the President continued her speech to the crowd, Danford looked skyward to where the Mun was rising above the horizon. He imagined kerbals walking on that body, clad in space suits and planting the flag of the CKFN proudly, to show the world the fantastic achievement they'd attained, which would be talked about for years, and no doubt live on throughout history as kerbalkind's first step out from their home planet.

Bringing his gaze back down to Kerbin, he reflected upon the road he'd need to travel to get to that future. The Space Programme faced a few issues, certainly, but he was confident that this new political regime would allow for those to be smoothed over quickly enough, he was certain.

Things were looking up!


End file.
